Markets and Industry

At the beginning of the year experts predicted new housing starts as high as 1.5 million, giving support to the builder´s confidence levels.

Ornamental stones are usually associated with only a few well known countries, even though there are surely many other countries where commercially viable natural stone is found.  This article highlights the current state of the development of the stone industry in Togo.

After the crisis? Is there a mistake in the title, is this magazine out of touch with reality? But is not Spain still in the middle of the worst economic crisis in 80 years? And are not Spanish companies of all kinds still closing down on a daily basis, after 5 years, leaving huge unpaid bills?

Dmitry Medyantsev, President of Russian STONE CENTER Association

Question.- How many factories and quarries are there in Russia?

 Jeffrey Matthews stonetrade@bellsouth.net

1. There has been a slowdown in the number of private sector projects coming in the market in second half of the year. Many of these projects are now in state of stand-bye.

2. The Polish market for natural stone became even more price conscious as a result of a more difficult environment.

3. Increased price sensitivity meant that cheap Chinese stones were increasing their market share.