Perlite

Domestic production, consumption, exports and prices of perlite in the United States were all estimated to have decreased in 2011 compared with 2010, but not significantly. The weak economic conditions that prevailed in the United States for most of the 2011 probably accounted for these decreases. The only statistic that increased was imports, which were estimated to have risen by about 6 percent but were still about 24 percent lower than the record of 245 kt (271,000 st) set in 2003 and again in 2006.