How to use the Opportunity finder

The Opportunity finder looks for the natural-stone import markets that grew over the last three years and where an exporting country still has a small share: expanding markets with room to enter or to grow.

Questions it answers:

• Which markets are importing more and more stone, and where does Portugal still sell almost nothing?
• Are there large markets where our country has no recorded sales at all?
• Where is our share rising, even if it is still small?

1. 1Exporting countryThe country you are looking for opportunities for.
2. 2Country's maximum shareBelow 1%, 5% or 10% of the market's imports. The lower it is, the more the list shows markets where the country is hardly present.
3. 3Minimum market sizeImports of at least 1, 10 or 50 million USD in the last year, to leave out markets that are too small.
4. 4The result updates by itselfWhen you change a selector, the result changes at once — there is no button. The page address keeps your choices: you can bookmark it or share it with your team.
5. 5Export as PDFThe «Export PDF» button below the selectors downloads the result on screen as a KEYSTONE. report: the choices you made, the tables and the reading notes. Every page carries your name and licence ID. Included in the Data and Professional plans.

1. 1MarketThe importing country. The list runs from the fastest growth to the slowest.
2. 2Imports in the last yearThe size of the market in million USD: all the natural stone it imported, from every origin.
3. 3Yearly growthThe average yearly growth rate of those imports over the last three years.
4. 4ShareThe exporting country's weight in the market's imports in the last year. «no recorded sales» means a share of zero.
5. 5Change in shareThe difference in percentage points against the first year of the period. «—» when the country sold nothing to that market in either year.

The marks next to the share say where it comes from: «*» = calculated from what the market records, because the exporter does not declare that destination separately; «†» = the sources disagree (the exporter declares having sold more than the market recorded importing in total), and the market's record is used.

Exporter A looks for markets with at least 10 M USD of imports where it has less than a 5% share. Four markets qualify.

• Market X combines size (85.4 M USD) and growth (+14.2% a year), and A's share rose 0.6 points, to 1.8%: an entry that is already working — the natural priority.
• In Market Y, A has no recorded sales: a 42.0 M USD market growing 9.7% a year where it is not yet present.
• Market W grows fastest (+21.5% a year), but it is small (18.7 M USD), and the 0.4% share carries the «†» mark: the sources disagree and it is worth checking.
• Market Z is the largest (120.3 M USD), but A lost share (−0.4 points, to 3.9%); the «*» shows the share comes from what the market records.

The list is a starting point. Before investing in a market, check the demand for the type of stone you sell, the access conditions (duties, certification, logistics) and the local competition.

• All natural stone. The size and growth are those of the whole market, with no split by product: the market may be growing in stones your country does not produce.
• The last year is provisional. Some countries report later or only in part; those that have not reported yet are left out and listed in the tool's notes.
• Import values include freight and insurance (CIF), are recorded by the buying country and are in USD: the growth includes price and exchange-rate effects, not only quantity.
• Two sources for the share. For the 10 countries with an annual dashboard, what the exporter declares is used; for the others, what the market records. The «*» and «†» marks show when it was not so.
• The period moves on by itself. It is always the last three years of KEYSTONE.'s world imports dashboard.

Why is a large market missing?

Either your country's share is already above the chosen maximum, or the market did not grow, or it has not reported the last year yet.

Why is a country missing from the list of exporters?

Only exporters with at least 10 M USD of sales to these markets in the last year can be chosen.

Who can see the markets?

Subscribers to the Data and Professional plans. Without a plan, the tool shows how many markets meet the criteria, but not their names or figures.