By Canan Tukelay

AFYONKARAHISAR, Turkey

Turkey’s marble export surpassed $1.4 billion in the first 10 months of 2018, a local commerce office head said.

Turkey exported marble mostly to China, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, India and Iraq, Husnu Serteser, head of Afyonkarahisar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Anadolu Agency.

"Turkey a prominent country in marble in terms of quality, color and varieties of stone," he said.

Serteser underlined that Turkey -- a marble producer -- can also produce marble processing machines.

"Previously, we use to import these machines from Italy, but now, we can produce them better than Italy," he added.

Turkey has several types of marble, such as white marble from the Aegean province of Mugla and the dark-red marble known as "cherry marble" mined in eastern province of Elazig.

Last year, exports of natural Turkish stone -- including processed and uncut marble, granite, travertine, and slate -- totaled 7.94 million tons or $2.05 billion, according to the Istanbul Mineral Exporters' Association.

Turkey is also the world's top marble exporter, followed by Italy and Greece.