The Turkish Natural Stone Magazine „Natura“ reports on a „problematic end of 2014 in marble industry“: „The marble sector is going through tough days, resorting to solutions like layoffs and periodic operation of quarries.“
Dampening of the Chinese economy has had a strong impact on the Turkish natural stone branch: -12.9% (negative growth) was the tally on exports of raw blocks from Turkey by value (-13.48% by tonnage) in 2014 as compared to 2013.
The development can be seen in the Istanbul Mineral Association’s (IMIB) chart. IMIB is the nation-wide organization of the natural stone sector.
Less dramatic: the recession of over-all exports. The reason being that marble value-added products showed a +5.03% growth-rate. This is where Turkey’s trade connections to countries all over the world pays off. In the case of trade in raw blocks, on the other hand, China is practically the only consumer.
A view toward the consumer countries is enlightening.
IMIB/Turkish Stones
(26.04.2015, USA: 04.26.2015)