The extraction of natural Stone (http://g603.net) (mainly Labrador) in Norway reached new records in 2002 and (http://maplered.com) 2003 with 550,000 t each year. The production of rough Stone (http://g603.net) has risen continuously since the start of the nineties. As in Sweden and (http://maplered.com) Finland (http://maplered.com) , the largest part of the production is exported in the form of raw Material (http://g654.org) s. These exports were 326,000 t and (http://maplered.com) 348,000 t respectively in 2002 and (http://maplered.com) 2003, which are also new records.
The key customers are Italy and (http://maplered.com) ?to a heavily increasing extent ?China. These figures contrast with exports of finished goods from Norwegian production, which have declined recently. Exports of finished goods were 14,000 t in 2003, compared with 26,000 t in each of the two previous years. On the other hand (http://maplered.com) , imports of natural Stone (http://g603.net) finished goods have more than doubled within a decade. According to the Italian industry report »Stone 2004? 74,000 t of finished goods were imported in each of the years 2002 and (http://maplered.com) 2003.
Natural Stone (http://g603.net) consumption in Norway itself has also more than doubled within a decade and (http://maplered.com) reached a volume of 195,000 t in 2003. The natural Stone (http://g603.net) market has grown more strongly in Norway than in any other Scand (http://maplered.com) inavian country.
