The growth of the stone market in the UK
October 2015
The use of stone in the UK diminished with modern architecture in the first three quarters of the 20th century but has since enjoyed a major revival and demand for it continues to grow strongly as the UK recovers from the economic crash that started with the credit crunch of 2007-8.
Fashions change – most granite worktops installed are dark colours but gradually lighter and more lively colours are growing in popularity. Many would like marble in their kitchens but are put off because marble is easily stained and etched. The makers of engineered quartz are capitalising on this by making products that look more like light-coloured marble but with the strength of granite. Many stone companies supplying worktops these days find half or more of their sales come from quartz.
As the UK construction industry continues to grow out of the recession demand for stone continues to strengthen. The use of stone is now well re-established in all areas of construction – commercial and domestic, for cladding and walling, flooring, worktops, wall coverings, features such as fireplaces and attention grabbing stairs (especially cantilevered stairs and landings).
Hard landscaping has also turned to stone in a major way, both for public and private projects. In 1980 stone paving and walling was a rareity. Now it is only a question of which stone to use. The big change was a huge increase in sandstone from India (in particular) and granite from China (in particular). The low price of these products, coinciding with a growing awareness of the importance of the spaces between buildings and an explosion of major urban regeneration programmes, brought about a sea change in the aesthetic for urban spaces. A driver has been the appreciation local administrations that simply improving the urban landscape can act as an impetus to a lot of private sector in the buildings in an area. This has been the rationale for a lot of urban landscape projects.
Britain and Ireland have a long history of building with stone, with monuments still standing that date back to pre-history – the most famous of which is probably Stone Henge on Salisbury Plain in the south of England, although others, notably Skara Brae in Scotland and New Grange, in Ireland are more impressive to visit.
The Roman conquest and 400-year occupation of Britain left us with stone fortifications and mansions. The Norman invasion of 1066 brought a burst of castle and church building, although it had begun before William the Conqueror turned up at Hastings as religious orders established their cathedrals and monastries across the land.
Stone has always been chosen for structures that are intended to show solidity and permanence, marking out the finest in architecture through the centuries.
With the rise of modernism at the start of the 19th century, architects turned to the then newly developed hard concretes, but as the second millennium drew to a close, architecture in Britain rediscovered its love of stone. Once again, the very symbol of permanence and longevity was chosen to mark out significant buildings and landscapes intended to give the impression of being intended to last for the next 1,000 years. The UK Government made £5billion available to help pay for millenium projects, giving the economy a boost into the third millennium.
Stone continues to be popular. Inevitably sales fell as a result of the world credit crunch and economic crisis of 2007-8.
Between 2008 and 2009, GDP per head in the UK dropped by 5.5%, the largest annual decrease since 1949, another period of austerity. The number of houses being built more than halved and banks withdrew their support for many businesses. The value of stone imports fell 16% in 2009 from what, taken over the long term, now looks like the bubble of 2007-8.
Before the crash there had been a big increase in the number of companies moving into the production and installation of granite kitchen worktops. By 2009, when the economic downturn really hit, there were about 1,200 companies templating, making and installing worktops and the crash saw about a quarter of them go out of business as demand rapidly fell.
Prompted by lifestyle magazine articles and television programmes, granite and, later, engineered quartz worktops had become de rigueur. New builds and home improvements alike just had to have granite worktops. Limestone floors also became popular, as well as stone and marble features such as fireplaces. More recently, stone and marble walls, floors and vanity units have become popular for bathrooms and wet rooms, and stone is more frequently seen in bedrooms and living areas.
In commercial buildings, the City of London leads the way in the use of stone for cladding and masonry on its offices, and stone and marble in its interiors, especially in public areas of foyers and toilets. But all major cities aspire to have stone marking their centres of administration, commerce and entertainment.
Many contractors still turn to Italy as a centre of stone selection and source for major projects in the UK, although Spain, Germany and France also supply cladding and masonry for new build and conservation projects in the UK and, of course, the British Isles produce their own stones, although they only account for about 25% of the market these days.
While larger stone contractors such as Szerelmey, PAYE, Stonewest, Livra, APS, Vetter, Mather & Ellis, Ketton, William Anelay and many more, as well as major interiors stone do buy their stone directly from suppliers all over the world, the recession made companies think again about holding expensive stock and more returned to the traditional supply chain of established international and national wholesalers such as Pisani, Levantina, The Marble & Granite Centre, Gerald Culliford, Beltrami, B-Stone, MGLW, Cosentino, International Stones and many others, as well as specialists in hard landscaping, roofing and memorials. They are all listed with full contact details in the Natural Stone Directory, which can be bought online from www.naturalstonespecialist.com/directory.
After the crash of 2009 there was a dead cat bounce in 2010, and adjustment back down in 2011 and each of the three completed years since then have seen stone imports growing again, with volume outpacing value, reflecting the strength of sterling and, perhaps, a hardening of attitudes by buyers.
According to the figures from HM Revenue & Customs, the value of imports in 2014 grew a little more than 2% to just over £400million for nearly 3million tonnes of stone. Figures for UK stone production (mostly limestone and sandstone and a little granite) are sketchy. However, according to the British Geological Survey, UK production was a little under 1million tonnes, which the Minerals Products Association’s Dimension Stone Group values at about £350million.
An upward trend in the market is clear, reflecting both the growth in British construction (up 7.4% in 2014) and the economy in general (up 2.8%).
Direct imports from India and China continue to grow and for the first time last year the two countries supplied more than half the UK’s stone imports. India still supplies most (nearly £127million worth last year) but China’s contribution was up 5% at just over £74million.
From Europe, Spain has maintained its position as the UK’s major supplier, not least because it ships a lot of roofing slate to Britain as well as granite for hard landscaping. In 2014 it was the source of 138,000tonnes of natural stone products valued at £58million.
Italy’s importance as a supplier to the UK has been diminishing, slowly but inexorably, for many years. At the height of the market in 2008 it shipped 51,000tonnes of stone to the UK valued in sterling at £52million. Last year that was 31,000tonnes worth £30million, according to MH Revenue & Customs.
Italy is still respected for its high quality finished stone and many developers continue to turn to Italy to source large quantities of natural materials for top-of-the-market projects, but clearly alternative sources are also being used.
- The usual caveats apply to these figures: they are based on VAT returns and some products can slip through under different product categories, so do not show up as stone imports. No doubt some stone that would not normally be considered part of the stonemason’s repertoire is also included. Nevetheless, the figures are comparable over time and provide the best source of information available to the industry about trends in the use of natural stone.
- No independent value is reported for the indigenous stone industry in the UK, which has about 170 quarry and mine operators supplying dimensional stone extracted from about 250 quarries and mines in the British Isles. The stone is used almost exclusively for the home market, although a little goes overseas.
UK stone market continues to grow
June 2015
For the third successive year, the UK’s imports of stone for construction and memorials grew again in 2014. Volume growth once again outpaced the growth in the value of them, reflecting the strength of sterling and, perhaps, a hardening of attitudes by buyers.
According to the figures from HM Revenue & Customs, the value of imports last year grew a little more than 2% to just over £400million while the volume was up 37% at nearly 3million tonnes. According to the British Geological Survey, UK production was a little under 1million tonnes, which the Minerals Products Association’s Dimension Stone Group values at about £350million.
Because the stone sector is fairly small, fluctuations in prices and volumes are quite large because they can be influenced by a small number of projects. Nevertheless, an upward trend in the market is clear, reflecting both the growth in British construction (up 7.4% in 2014) and the economy in general (up 2.8%).
Direct imports from India and China continue to grow and for the first time last year the two countries supplied more than half the UK’s stone imports. India still supplies most (nearly £127million worth last year) but China’s contribution was up 5% at just over £74million.
Imports from South Korea are increasing – it supplied 2,000tonnes in 2014 worth £2million, making its price per tonne about the same as stone from Italy. More is coming directly from Latin America (2014 = 36,000tonnes valued at £12million). There is an increasing amount from the Middle East and North Africa (2014 = 17,500 tonnes valued at £10million).
From Europe, Spain has maintained its position as the UK’s major supplier, not least because it ships a lot of roofing slate to Britain as well as granite for hard landscaping. In 2014 it was the source of 138,000tonnes of natural stone products valued at £58million.
Italy is Europe’s largest stone trading nation but its importance as a supplier to the UK has been diminishing, slowly but inexorably, for many years. At the height of the market in 2008 it shipped 51,000tonnes of stone to the UK valued in sterling at £52million. Last year that was 31,000tonnes worth £30million.
Italy is still respected for its high quality finished stone and many developers continue to turn to Italy to source large quantities of natural materials for top-of-the-market projects, but clearly alternative sources are also being used.
