Port-of-Entry

The General View: The $356.8 million in U.S. hard-surface export values for March represents a 5.8% gain from February. However, that’s one of the few positives to salvage for the month. March 2023 is 18.2% lower than the same time last year.

The Expected: India’s shipments of quartz surfaces continue to pick up after last year’s fear of higher unfair-trade tariffs slowed the flow of slabs. However, March’s 3.9 million ft² is more than one-third off totals from a year ago.

The Unexpected: Overall values and volumes in March 2023 showed year-over-year in every one of the eight sectors Hard-Surface Report tracks. Marble is the only sector to keep losses to the single digits.

The Strange: Other Stone, which rode the quartzite boom for the past few years, took a big tumble in March. India took top spot as the leader in volume, despite posting a 36.8% loss in year-over-year shipping totals.

Next Month: The best thing to say about March, as far as hard-surface imports, is that it’s over. April is one big question mark, although the relative balance of declines in values and volumes in each sector suggests a basic lowering of U.S. levels of demand for surfaces. It’s a cliché to say it, but this may really be the New Normal.