XIAMEN FIT IMPORT & EXPORT CO., LTD.
Germany: the top international buyer   
click rate:2606 issue time:2006-06-22 13:51
Germany remains number three! The country in which over 80 million people live is today's third largest consumer of natural stone in the world. Only China and Italy import more stone. The Italian import figures, however, say little about the actual consumption, as a majority of these imports are re-exported. Germany's relatively low domestic production makes it the most important international buyer of semi-finished and finished products of natural stone. The import values in 1999 reached the 2.5 million tons limit - a historically maximum value. This contrasts with natural stone exports, which are stagnating. Over 40 percent of imports in 1999 were standard semi-finished and finished products for private building. In addition, natural stone indisputably plays a particularly outstanding role in Germany in the construction of representative prestige and large-scale projects. The major supplier of natural stone products to Germany is still Italy, although it is forced to defend its market position increasingly fiercely. China, India, Portugal and especially Spain have appreciably expanded their market shares.