Port-of-Entry
November 2022
The General View: November shipments usually come down every year from mid-year highs, but this year’s $400.6 million in U.S. hard-surface imports is down 20% from October. Some of the difference is from a large across-the-board. Other declines may be signaling a slowdown for all materials.
The Expected: The U.S. Census Bureau finally corrected the October import data on quartz-slab volume. Instead of a total slightly north of 7 million ft², shipments came to 19.1 million ft², and ahead of October 2021 by not quite 3 million ft².
The Unexpected: In 2022, November quartz-slab volume of 12.4 million ft² plummeted 35% from October deliveries at U.S. ports-of-entry. India’s month-to-month drop of 65.6% is likely due to uncertainty on possible tariff hikes, but big declines also came from Spain (down 33%) and Thailand (down 42.3%)
The Strange: Only one sector managed to show both a month-to-month and annual increase in November import values. Other Calcareous moved up 3.5% from October and 11.2% from 2021, making it the only inflation-beater among hard surfaces.
Next Month: After a summer where volume and values tended to be stable, it’s back again on the roller-coaster ride for U.S. hard-surface imports. Maybe we’re on a loop-the-loop and heading to some flat track.in the near future. The wise rider will hold onto the safety bar in case of sudden changes.
