India: 40 percent of the stone go to Europe

In 1999, India sold 40 percent of its raw blocks of Granite (http://tanbrown.org) - over 500.000 tons - to Europe. In the same period, approx. 380.000 tons remained in Asia. Although exports to the USA were appreciably increased, this country\'s imports of about 50 000 tons were way behind Europe. In India itself, a strong rise was to be observed in domestic demand (http://maplered.com) , which at 158.000 tons was almost 20 percent above the previous year. Some 350.000 tons of semi-finished and (http://maplered.com) finished products were exported in the same year. This was 15 percent more than the previous year and (http://maplered.com) therefore the best figure since 1990. Besides the USA and (http://maplered.com) Japan, Europe also remains one of India\'s best customers in the finished products sector. In 1999, 25 000 tons of finished products were exported to Germany alone, which set a new »record?