Port-of-Entry

The General View: U.S. hard-surface imports snapped back into the positive in March, with the $436.3 million in customs value topping the previous month by 18.1% and the previous year by 9.9%. The Expected: Quartz slabs led all sectors with $148.7 million in value in March, making up slightly more than one-third of all hard-surface imports for the month. The Unexpected: Two unequal increases, though, can lead to a loss. Quartz’s $148.7 million in March is only 1.6% ahead of March 2021’s value, while year-to-year volume went up by 11.5%. That means the value per unit (i.e., per square-foot) went from $8.87 a year earlier to $8.09 this March -- a drop of 8.8%. The Strange: Other Calcareous showed its usual volatility, with U.S. import volume in March jumping 63.9% year-to-year. The wild card here is Canada, increasing more than 400% this March from a year ago. Next Month: It’s still going to take until April to see if any European shipments waver as Russia/Ukraine, supply-chain woes and inflation continue. It’s a trifecta with only trouble as the payout.