The boom is over: Facts and figures from India

The fact is: India is increasingly successful in exporting natural Stone (http://g603.net) and (http://maplered.com) products of natural Stone (http://g603.net) . Apart from a slight drop in 1998, India’s natural Stone (http://g603.net) exports rise every year. The annual growth has settled at about 15 per cent for some years now.

Over ten per cent of the natural Stone (http://g603.net) s traded on today’s world natural Stone (http://g603.net) market come from this country. This means India is the third largest natural Stone (http://g603.net) producer in the world after Italy and (http://maplered.com) China and (http://maplered.com) plays an increasingly important role in world trade in natural Stone (http://g603.net) s.

In figures: Natural Stone (http://g603.net) production in India had already clearly exceeded the 3-million tons mark in 2000. Domestic demand (http://maplered.com) rose at the same time: 160,000 tons of natural Stone (http://g603.net) s remained in the country in 2002. This is as much as 20 per cent more than the year before. Besides raw blocks, rough Slabs (http://www.VerdeUbatuba.com) and (http://maplered.com) stand (http://maplered.com) ard Tiles (http://www.g682.net) , graveStone (http://g603.net) s were the country’s chief export earner in the past years. This contrasts with the sale of raw blocks, which has dropped by almost four per cent a year since 1998.

India remains number one in the world rankings for export of limeStone (http://g603.net) and (http://maplered.com) sand (http://maplered.com) Stone (http://g603.net) Slabs (http://www.VerdeUbatuba.com) . This segment amounts to almost 500,000 tons, which is over 35 per cent of Indian exports. Almost a quarter of these products go to the USA ?nearly 100,000 tons a year.

India’s second large customer is one of the new main competitors on the world market: China! About 40,000 tons of floor Slabs (http://www.VerdeUbatuba.com) and (http://maplered.com) stand (http://maplered.com) ard Tiles (http://www.g682.net) are already exported from India to China today ?with strongly rising tendency. Germany is number eight in this segment and (http://maplered.com) buys between 25,000 and (http://maplered.com) 30,000 tons annually ?with falling tendency.

After many boom years, India’s natural Stone (http://g603.net) producers face a turning point: Although the European Community’s threatened anti-dumping action was staved off, the discussion on child labour in the Stone (http://g603.net) quarries will at least damage the country’s image. So the signs today tend to indicate stagnation.