The impact of marble on industry and international trade Dr. Mohammad Akbar Nadeeer Poor Head of Strategic Communications with Donors, Ministry of Finance The marble industry worldwide has been growing strongly since the 1990s, and at roughly 8.7 per cent per year since 1999. The industry is expected to continue to grow over 8 per cent per year up to 2025. Currently, 55 per cent of the marble quarried is destined for exports. Estimates are that by 2025, 60 per cent of all quarried marble will be exported. Production and exports are dominated by five countries, Italy, Turkey, Spain, India and China. These countries control over half of the market. Recent market trends indicate a shift from exports of blocks to more value added products such as slabs and finished goods (tiles, cladding, etc.). The largest share of value is found in quarrying blocks and in cutting slabs, the most difficult and capital intensive links in the value chain. However, countries with the ability to manufacture cheap (especially China) are started to enter the finished goods market, and rich economies are increasingly importing finished goods. Currently, the largest importers of slabs and finished goods are the US, and the Middle East (UAE and Saudi Arabia). The Afghanistan marble market has been hindered by a lack of investment. Quarrying operations are conducted by blasting with dynamite, a process which yields irregularly shaped pieces of stone which are difficult to process and much of which are wasted. Furthermore, blasting causes micro-fractures throughout the stone, resulting in a lot of breakage during cutting and polishing. Blasting not only creates these micro-fractures in the quarried stone, but can also do so in the entire quarry, destroying a great deal of the value of the stone. About 80 per cent of the stone quarried in this manner is shipped out of the country – much of it illegally – at a fraction of the potential value if properly quarried and processed. For example marble that is exported to Peshawar at just under $40/ton, when cut into blocks, could earn over $140/ton and $300/ton when cut into slabs.