Roofing slate deposits in the world

There are several roofing slate deposits in the world. The biggest is located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, although there are other large reserves which are not yet evaluated in China and Brazil. Thus, the main producers of roofing slate are Spain, China and Brazil, in that order.

Evolution of the roofing slate trade. Data: UNSTASTS, http://comtrade.un.org

The sector has been hardly hit by the global crisis of recent years, but the production is beginning to recover in Spain, although China is gaining ground especially in volume of production. However, Chinese slate is sold at a price significantly lower than the Spanish, hindering the takeoff of a strong slate production sector in this country. First consumers of Spanish slate are France, Germany and the UK:

From a petrological point of view, the commercial denomination “roofing slate” includes various types of rocks, with the common characteristic that can exfoliate in large and thin tiles. The specific characteristic of each type of slate depends on its petrology. These specific characteristics control the performance of a slate depending on the conditions of use and the climate.

World´s main deposits of roofing slates.