The export figures of two important players in natural stone market don’t display very pleasing scene for Turkey
Despite the fall of export first time after a break of 7 years, the income of Italy per ton corresponds to 2.8 times more than Turkey
Let’s say the word at the beginning which will be said at the end… Turkish stone sector is literally an example of ‘busy bees’… It works day and night, produces, and exports to all over the world. However, it seems that the ‘marketing’ problem prevents all these efforts from finding their real value. The export numbers of Turkey and Italy in 2016, two major players in natural stone sector, display this scene very clearly.
Turkey tripled in sales
Let’s state primarily that Turkey achieved a great difference from Italy in terms of amount. In 2016, Turkish stone sector sold a total of 6 million 513 thousand 298 tons. Italy sold 2 million 775 thousand 831 tons. In other words, Turkey tripled Italy in the sales stones. The amount of stone Turkey sold didn’t progress except a slight increase of 0.01%. On the other hand, Italy suffered a recession of 7.6% in amount. This is a great scene for Turkey in the amount of export stone. However, when it comes to value, the scene is vice versa.
Italy at the forefront in income
Although Italians sell one-third of which Turkey sells, they achieved to be at the front of Turkey in terms of export value. Turkey earned 1 billion 801 million 943 thousand dollars in 2016. Italy gained 2 billion 170 million 567 thousand dollars. Compared to 2015, Turkish export income dropped by 5.33%. Italy suffered a fall of 3.9% in export income. In this point, looking at the income figures per ton displays the difference in a more bitter way.
Huge difference in income per ton
The income per ton that Turkey obtained as of 2016 is $276.6. On the other hand, Italy gained $781.9 and nearly tripled Turkey. The biggest reason for this difference is the revenue of two countries obtained from the sales of processed products. Turkey earned $455.1 from the processed marble and travertine per ton. Italy gained $1375.6 in this point. Block marble corresponds 47.7% to Turkish overall natural stone revenue. Turkey sold block marble for $197.2 per ton. Italians earned $301.4 per ton from block marble.
First time in Italy after 7 years
One might say that the signs are positive for Italy compared to Turkish stone sector. However, we need to underline the fact that export revenue of Italy fell first time after a break of 7 years. Losing momentum both in the sales of block and processed products, Italians suffered a loss of 7.66% in amount and 3.9% in value compared to 2015. The biggest blow to Italy came from Arabia that recessed by 41%.
