1.1 Definition and presentation

Marble is a limestone rock in the form of calcite, the surface of which is laminated with fissures that are made of natural minerals and various colors. The basic color of calcite is white, but there is a wide variety of colored marbles because of the different sedimentary structures they may have. Usually, marble is used as a decorative rock, in sculpture or for interior design. The marble market can be segmented by color, application, and geographic area.

The size of the global marble market has been estimated at $57.87 billion in 2020, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.28 percent, reaching $83.42 billion by 2026.

In Italy, marble and stone is one of the main Made in Italy sectors, counting more than 3,200 companies and 33,800 employees in 2020. As mentioned earlier, the quality of Italian marble is known worldwide: in fact, nearly 75 percent of Italy's total production is for export. Despite the decrease in the number of quarries in the territory, the entire supply chain (including both semi-finished and processed raw materials) is still in high demand abroad, especially from the Middle East and the USA. In particular, processed marble accounts for the largest share of export value, and is mainly in demand from the USA, Switzerland, Germany and France.

The main geographical area of marble production is the Apuan district of Versilia, which accounts for 36 percent of sales in absolute value. The Apuan sector is thus confirmed as the national leader, thanks to its 145 companies, among which Franchi Umberto Marmi ranks first in terms of turnover and profit. But the Veneto district is also known for the production of marble and accounts for 25 percent of Italian production.

1.2 World market growth

The size of the global marble market was estimated at $**.** billion in ****, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of *.** percent, reaching $**.** billion by ****.* [***]

Global marble market World, ****-****, billion dollars Source: ****

Asia-Pacific is expected to be the dominant and fastest-growing market during the forecast period due to increasing government ...

1.4 The European market : the Italian leader

At the European level, Italy is an extremely important player; it is one of the countries that produces the most marble. The Prodcom codes that list the products studied and referred to in the following charts are:

******** Cutting/construction stones and articles of such stone: marble, travertine, alabaster (***) ******** and ******** Marbles ...

1.4 Domestic market

There are many ATECO codes for sectors related to marble quarrying and processing in Italy. To estimate the market size of the sector, however, we will use ATECO **.**.** "Quarrying of ornamental and building stone, limestone, chalk stone, chalk and slate," which includes:

quarrying, roughing and cutting of monumental and building stones ...

1.5 Foreign trade

The UN Comtrade items we are referring to are those listed in Subpart *.* (***).

Italy logically has a positive trade balance, with a very important difference between imports and exports. As can be seen in the graph below, which shows its trade balance over a five-year period (***), Italy exports a lot and ...

2.1 Marble end customers

There are different types of marble use:

Construction and building Sculpture Interior design Crafts Graves and funerary services

Marble powder is most widely used in the following fields :

Chemistry Pigments for bleaching Calcium-based food supplements Artificial stones Lime for agricultural treatments

2.2 The sawing and processing (including artistic) of marble

The ATECO heading to which the following data refer is **.** "Cutting, shaping and finishing of stone." The *-digit codes we are interested in are, in detail :

**.**.** "Sawing and processing of stone and marble," whichincludes work carried out on rough stone extracted from quarries, cutting, shaping and finishing of stone in ...

2.3 The construction and floor and wall covering industry

The ATECO heading to which the following data refer is **.**.** "Floor and wall covering," which includes marble cladding.

This sector remains stable through the years, with a slight increase since ****. In total, from **** to ****, the sector's turnover increased by +**%.

Turnover of the building and wall and floor covering sector Italy, ****-****, ...

2.4 The funeral market in italy

The funeral market is also part of the industry demand. Gravestones can be made of marble or granite. Therefore, it is interesting to analyze the evolution of this market. The ATECO heading we are interested in is **.**.** "Retail trade in funeral and cemetery articles", however, Istat does not allow to analyze ...

3.1 Marble supply chain value chain

3.2 Italian production and enterprises

In Italy, marble and stone is one of the main Made in Italy sectors, counting more than *,*** companies and **,*** employees in ****. As mentioned earlier, the quality of Italian marble is known worldwide: in fact, nearly ** percent of Italy's total production is for export. [***] Despite the decrease in the number of quarries ...

4.1 Type of products

Below, we offer a non-exhaustive list of the main types of marble found in Italy.

[***]

Italian marbles are among the most famous in the world. Italy is perhaps the richest country in terms of marble varieties. In Sicily, in Tuscany (***), in Venice, on the Genoese coast, on the island of ...

4.2 Cost structure

Mining and quarrying

The costs of a marble quarry can be broken down by taking into account the following elements[***] :

Labor cost Cost of thermal energy, electricity and water Cost of road, rail and sea transportation Cost of equipment, blades, discs, abrasives, etc.

As for marble quarrying machines, the price varies ...

4.3 Prices charged

Import-export price

Using **** French customs data to give an order of magnitude, this time for unit values (***), while size stones exceed *** euros per ton for export.

Interestingly, export prices are generally higher than import prices for high value-added finished products, while they are lower for all other products (***).

5.1 The regulation of mining activities in Italy

Mining activities in Italy are regulated by Royal Decree No. **** of July **, ****, and with Presidential Decree ***/****, administrative functions related to quarry activities were transferred to the Regions. Details of each Region can be read in the Quarry Report ****, page **.