A new record of operators from 143 nations marked the closure today of the 48th edition of
In addition to coverage of geographic areas, the overall share of foreign operators visiting the halls grew by 6% to 55% of the 56,000 visitors in total. The top ten specialised operators came first of all from Germany, followed by India, Spain, Turkey, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and Brazil.
The four-day event welcomed well over 1,400 exhibitors from nearly 60 countries with new entries from Singapore, Slovenia and Ireland; there were 16 international group attendances, with the return of Palestine and the debut of Tunisia, and 44 official trade missions from 44 countries.
"The results of the 48th Marmomacc confirm the validity of the show's unique formula combining business with product culture, design, training and constant innovation,” says Ettore Riello president of Veronafiere.
“All this is equally hallmarked by Marmomacc's increasing internationalisation: its initiatives abroad interpret and promote the excellence of the Italian stone industry, as highlighted during the visit by the Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Carlo Calenda. Further proof of our role as a global hub is that, despite continued economic and financial difficulties, nearly three-quarters of the world's countries, 143 out of 205, decided to attend the event. We must also highlight the importance of the first official visit to Italy by the Egyptian Minister for Industry and Trade, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour.”
Giovanni Mantovani, CEO & director general of Veronafiere, says: "During Marmomacc 2013 the central concept of highly qualified trade visitors was upheld, not the least through the selective efforts of Veronafiere's international network of representatives who followed up specific programmes of b2b meetings with exhibitors in the course of the event.
“We finalised a great many of international agreements, in particular the launch of a new collaboration with Egypt that will be completed with the debut in 2014 in Cairo of MS Africa & Middle East. We also unveiled a partnership in the stone industry in Palestine and implemented ongoing operations in Brazil with the two most important trade fairs in the sector. Our activities also continue in North America, alongside Hanley Wood, as well as in Middle East markets.
“We are also developing initiatives in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia. Evidently, the international market is working and we will have to focus on this fact for the future. It was precisely from abroad, in fact, that we recorded an increase in qualified operators and this testifies to the fine work carried out to promote incoming attendance.”
Flavio Marabelli, honorary president of Confindustria Marmomacchine, said: "The exhibition generated very positive results and was especially encouraging as regards maintaining certain markets and developing others, both for materials and technology. I saw good signs from Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Asia as a whole for technology, while for materials there was promising feedback from Gulf countries and the recovery in the United States."
According to the organisers there was evident optimism among the exhibitors, a sentiment shared by Italian and foreign companies.
Among these, there was an impressive turnout from Turkey, one of the leading countries in this field.
“The situation is not the same as before the crisis but compared to last year I can say that it has slightly improved. I spoke with some of our exhibitors and they emphasise that the visitors they met were all highly professional. I am fairly optimistic, especially as regards certain markets, such as the United States," says Erdogan Akbulak, member of the Board of Directors of IMIB, the government association that organised the impressive group attendance by Turkish companies at Marmomacc.
Italian companies specialised in processing were also happy.
"We are satisfied, the market is definitely picking up especially on American markets, although I also saw positive signs from in other areas such as Asia," says Carlo Varni, sales manager of Franchi Marmi.
“Nonetheless, the strongest signal for us as producers of processed materials came precisely from the United States. The recovery is confirmed by attendance at the show by many US buyers."
Roberta Zanet of Marmi Bruno Zanet, was also pleased: “Our assessment is very positive because we have seen a strong recovery. We worked well, especially on Far East markets, and we also saw a good recovery in the United States, where a good number of important architectural projects are underway. Brazil is a fundamental resource for materials for us and it will be all the more so thanks to the initiative launched there by Marmomacc."
There was also optimism among companies in the technology sector.
Gianbattista Pedrini of Pedrin SpA, said: "We expected a good show and it certainly was. The problems we have in Italy are absent abroad and as a result we can fortunately export between 85% and 90%, which we that this year we should post the same turnover as before the crisis. This year we invoiced 25% more than last year thanks to foreign markets that have already begun to recover, such as Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia and even China that is now looking at Italian machinery to improve the quality of its products intended for export."
These feelings were also confirmed by Benetti Macchine.
“The impression is better than in other years: turnout was high and visitors came with specific and well-defined interests and not just to gain an idea of the market. We work in the quarry world and in this area we saw a revival both abroad as in Italy. And there was even some demand for projects in new countries.”
Igino Bombana, owner of Tenax, summed up, saying: "This year was positive for us. If we look at the market in general, I can say that Italy performed quite well but abroad things were much better albeit with differences from country to country. Brazil, India and Turkey are fundamental for us and where we also have our own local offices we recorded excellent results."
Inside Marmomacc architecture, design, culture and education
The four days of the exhibition saw Hall 7B transformed into Inside Marmomacc, a venue for exhibitions, installations and international conferences dedicated to the use of stone.
Inside Marmomacc was also the stage for awards and honours including 13th edition of the International Stone Architecture Award that celebrates the best architectural projects involving the use of stone.
Among those acclaimed were Arup Associates, Alberto Campo Baeza, Max Dudler, Josep Mias Architects, Carl Fredrik Svenstedt (as well as the special mention for the Ufficio Sassi di Matera, the Ad Memoriam Award to architect Alessandro Anselmi and the Vernacular Architecture Award to dry stone works: Taulas, Navetas, Barracas, Muragghi, Pagliari).
The Best Communicator Award for exhibitors distinguished by the quality and originality of their stands (winners: Fibra, Scandola Marmi, Testi Group; special mention: Comes, Cava Romana, Tyrolit, Favorita, Solancis (Portugal), Finstone, Premium Stone (India); exceptional special mention: Piba Marmi and Prometec).
The Master of Stone Award was made to Daniel Avital of Fervital and Nassar Ali Nassar of Nassar Store Group. The Women in Marble Award went to Patrizia Dottori.
Cultural projects were distinguished by the installations in the Marmomacc&Design Fluid Stone event involving young, under-30 designers capable of interpreting stone materials using modern media tools, as well as the exhibitions of prototypes by students of the Faculty of Architecture, Ferrara, and students at the Brenzoni Art School; the Bathing in Light exhibition of works from Turkey; the rotating disks with marble tiles in Opus Motus; the two different Stone & Luxury SPA installations representing the relationship between man, water and stone; the Structural Stone event for the design of prototypes and design themes for stone architecture, and many others.
There was also impressive participation by architects, engineers and designers at the course and educational activities promoted by the Stone Academy, involving 20 Italian and international universities, this year joined by schools of architecture in Florida and Ljubljana.
Even after closing its doors, Marmomacc will continue to live in the city until the end of October with Marmomacc & The City, an exhibition of stone sculptures and installations in the streets and squares of the historic centre of Verona.
