Final USITC Report on Chinese Quartz Imports June 2019 | Page 38

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Table II-3
Quartz surface products: Supply factors that affect the ability to increase shipments to the U.S.
market
Capacity
(1,000 square feet))
Country
United States:
U.S. slab
producers
Independent
fabricators
2015
***
2017
***
Capacity
utilization
(percent)
2015
2017
***
***
Ratio of inventories Shipments by market, Able to shift
to total shipments
2017
to alternate
(percent)
(percent)
products
Home
Exports to No. of firms
market
non-U.S.
reporting
2015
2017
shipments markets
“yes”
***
***
***
***
0 of 3
4,657
6,498
78.6
72.6
33.9
26.9
98.6
1.4
16 of 16
91,609
148,244
74.4
85.3
9.2
7.7
27.2
22.4
2 of 38
Note.--Responding U.S. producers accounted for virtually all of U.S. production of quartz surface products in 2017.
Responding foreign producer/exporter firms accounted for the vast majority of U.S. imports of quartz surface products
from China during 2017. For additional data on the number of responding firms and their share of U.S. production and
of U.S. imports from China, please refer to Part I, “Summary Data and Data Sources.”
China
Source: Compiled from data submitted in response to Commission questionnaires.
Domestic production 
Based on available information, U.S. producers of quartz surface products have the 
ability to respond to changes in demand with large changes in the quantity of shipments of 
U.S.‐produced quartz surface products to the U.S. market. The main contributing factors to this 
degree of responsiveness of supply are the increased availability of unused capacity and 
available inventories. Factors mitigating responsiveness of supply include limited ability to shift 
shipments from alternate markets, U.S. slab producers’ limited ability to shift production to or 
from alternate products, as well as some purchaser reports that they were unable to secure 
supply from U.S. producers.   
U.S. slab producers’ capacity and production of quartz slabs has increased since 2015, 
and capacity utilization decreased during 2015‐17 as a result of capacity increases outpacing 
II‐8