The 52nd edition of Marmomac, the international exhibition of stone design and technology, attracted 68,000 operators from 147 countries, setting a record for the event.
Organised by Veronafiere and held in Verona, Italy, the recent Marmomac saw 1,650 companies (64% international from 56 countries) take space at the event.
“Facts and figures for the 52nd Marmomac confirm its role of leadership for global trade in this sector," says Maurizio Danese, President of Veronafiere.
“This edition also achieved the objective of expanding business for natural stone companies that concluded important contracts and signed orders for materials and technologies alike.”
Marmomac, as a b2b promotion platform, especially plays a strategic role for Italian stone industry products, which achieves almost 75% of turnover abroad.
In 2015, the government included the exhibition in its Special Made in Italy promotion plan and on the opening day this year Ivan Scalfarotto, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development, renewed the commitment to extend the funding in 2018.
Internationality was also one of the main guidelines of Marmomac 2017, as Giovanni Mantovani, CEO & Director General of Veronafiere explained:
“Once again, attendance by international operators came to more than 60% of the total, thereby reflecting the evolution of international markets and confirming Marmomac as a global platform for trade and promotion of the entire natural stone value chain,” says Giovanni Mantovani, CEO & Director General of Veronafiere.
“In particular, there was growing interest among African countries, as well as even more buyers from North and South America and consolidated attendance from Europe. At the same time, growth was seen for Asia with China and India, followed by Russia, where the market is recovering at last, with Turkey and Iran posting significant improvements.
“There was also good attendance from the domestic market, especially from central-southern Italy. Our objective now is to project the Marmomac brand energetically abroad and we have already signed several system agreements in Italy and China this year.
“The next appointment is scheduled in Miami [Florida, USA], in mid-October for Archmarathon and meetings with 50 studios of architecture from across the entire American continent to expand the network of the event even further.
“In fact, Marmomac 2017 welcomed several new initiatives moving in this direction, from the signing of the new partnership in China with Qingdao Fair, to the letter of intent signed with IMM-Carrarafiere for the joint promotion abroad of respective stone districts and the announcement of the strengthening of marble and construction events in South America managed by our subsidiary Veronafiere do Brasil.”
During the four days of the show, major attention was also paid to the design world, as well as to training, which is in the forefront of the update courses for architects provided by the Marmomac Academy.
The Italian Stone Theatre, a pavilion developed with the Ministry for Economic Development MISE, ICE-Agency and Confindustria Marmomacchine, highlighted the interaction between natural stone, design experimentation and technology, while the International Stone Summit, the main stone associations worldwide focused on future developments in the sector.
2017 also welcomed the debut for collaboration with the Milan Design Film Festival, with a series of short films by international directors dedicated to the world of marble and natural stone.
The 12 installations in natural stone making up the
The 53rd edition of Marmomac is scheduled at VeronaFiere 26-29 September 2018.
