Catalina Research and Ceramic Tile and Stone Consultants have performed an in-depth industry investigation on the $6.0 billion U.S. Natural and Manufactured Stone Product Industry. The 2010 U.S. Natural and Manufactured Stone report includes the following excerpt:

These trends are uncovered in the 200-plus-page investigation of the U.S. natural and manufactured stone market. This valuable industry analysis covers all aspects of the U.S. stone market including mines and quarries, stone processors and fabricators, importers, end-use markets and installers. Sales are broken out for stone countertops, flooring, other building products and monuments. Product sales are also provided by type of stone. Granite continues to represent over half of industry dollar sales, however, demand for sandstone and slate have increased in importance over the recession. Catalina tracks the supply chain by type of stone from the mine and importer to the processor and fabricator to the installer and final customer.

In addition, Ceramic Tile and Stone Consultants surveyed quarries and manufacturers, along with the leading fabricators and the largest importers to develop a snapshot of the products sold and the end-use markets targeted by these competitors. A separate report section provides trends in the relatively profitable manufactured stone market, which includes precast concrete products that look like stone and engineered agglomerated stone products. The section tracks sales of manufactured stone countertops, fabricated structural components, flooring and blocks and bricks. Readers can see how these products penetrated the markets for natural stone.