Complete new framework for Steinexpo 2014 in Germany

Organisers of the ninth 465 Steinexpo 2014 stone quarry demonstration exhibition, being held at the basalt quarry at Nieder-Ofleiden, Germany, from 3-6 September, say the exhibition layout will differ noticeably from previous events.

The trade fair, which had its premiere at the quarry (which belongs to the MHI group) in 1990, is held in a three-year cycle and offers live demonstrations against the backdrop of the magnificent stone quarry where manufacturers and dealers of building and processing machinery, utility vehicles and heavy vehicles as well as plants for reclamation and treatment of materials put their service performance on display. The recycling of mineral building materials represents another focus point.

Steinexpo is organised by 4695 Geoplan, Iffezheim, and together with exhibitor representatives, the exhibition management organised several on-site inspections last year in order to inform every interested company about the new exhibition layout and to at least roughly peg out the possible exhibition areas early enough.

Indeed, in August 2013  Geoplan said that exhibitors had already firmly booked more than half of the available exhibition areas, even though the areas are no longer the same.

The ongoing rock mining and the extension of the landfill in Europe's largest basalt quarry have changed the layout quite substantially. For this reason, the project team of Geoplan arranged several on-site presentation events in the summer of 2013 to familiarise exhibitors with the new spatial concept of Steinexpo 2014.

“The mining conditions in Nieder-Ofleiden necessitate an entirely new layout planning for Steinexpo 2014. This has meant that our exhibitors had to reorient themselves in terms of the spatial changes,” says trade fair director Dr Friedhelm Rese.
At the onsite presentation meetings the exhibitors gained their first three-dimensional impression of how their exhibition space will look like at the next event. Dr Rese was surprised by the great response at the onsite meetings and even more so by the scale of the binding inquiries. Influential exhibitors have already announced that they want to become even more involved in Steinexpo 2014, despite a somewhat cautious future business outlook.

“For us at this early stage, this is as much an affirmation as it is gratifying.”

Almost all the market leaders in the fields of construction machinery and processing technology will be represented at Steinexpo 2014 and in many cases have booked significantly larger areas for their exhibits than in the past. The new demo area for the moderated joint demonstration of the construction machinery industry is already fully occupied.

Geoplan says that companies such as 460 Sandvik and 668 Terex Finlay will demonstrate their innovations live on areas of up to 4,000m² in size.

“It is already apparent that Steinexpo 2014, with an even wider range of technology and services for the reclamation, processing and refining of mineral raw materials, is going to be the ultimate meeting point of the European raw and building materials industry. In addition, our visitor analysis of the last three trade fairs has shown a regular increase in the share of visits by decision-makers from the construction industry and especially from the sectors for earthworks, road construction and civil engineering,“ says Dr Rese.