Selling out over a month ahead of the show date, Marmomacc, the leading international stone industry trade show, gears up for its 49th edition, scheduled for September 24 to 27, 2014 in Verona, Italy. The show, with 75,000 square meters of business space, has more than 1,400 confirmed exhibitors from 56 countries, including new participants from Malta, Mexico, Thailand, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

Last year, the show featured 1,425 exhibitors with 59% from foreign countries. There were 56,992 visitors, an 8.8% increase over 2012. The 2014 show takes place for the first time in conjunction with Abitare Il Tempo, the exhibition devoted to the contract, interior decoration and furnishing/furniture sector that complements and extends Marmomacc’s own offering.

Every year, Marmomacc provides attendees with the opportunity to view some of the latest stone products and stoneworking technology. With indoor and outdoor exhibition areas, products on display in Verona will include slabs and blocks of granite, marble, limestone, travertine, onyx and other materials from around the world.

Equipment for stone fabrication and quarrying is also a major component of the exhibition, as well as stone maintenance and installation products. In addition to the machines themselves, exhibitors will be displaying new products in the area of tooling and accessories, many of which were aimed at the fabrication market.

As is for every show, there is a strong focus on international demand as a crucial aspect for promoting processed marble and “Made in Italy” technology, that in 2013 Italy exported 71.5% of production with a positive balance of trade of 2.4 billion euros. The top 10 markets of interest highlighted by Italian exhibitors at Marmomacc confirm the U.S. in first, followed by Russia, China, Italy, Brazil, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, India and Turkey. This is why Veronafiere, through its network of foreign delegates and in collaboration with Confindustria Marmomacchine and ICE-Italian Agency for International Promotion and Internationalization of Italian Companies, has worked to attract qualified and selected stone industry and contract buyers to Marmomacc with the aim of involving them in training programs, B2B appointments with exhibitors and meetings with international groups.

Italy experiences growth of stone exports

With exports worth $769.43 million (574.5 million euros) of processed and unhewn products, the Italian natural stone sector closed the first quarter of the year with +5.3% in value compared to the same period in 2013, according to a report released by Marmomacc.

Growth was seen in the following markets:

• Europe +6.6%

• U.S. +3.9%

• Middle East +3.2%

• North Africa +19.7%

Asia was the only country to post a set back with a -3%. Imports were also up of raw materials from India, +21.1%, Brazil, +7.7%, Zimbabwe, +26.5%, and South Africa, +14.6%. According to the report, exports of processed materials are still the spearhead of natural stone “Made in Italy,” with $602.02 million (449.5 million euros) between January and April, a 3.2% increase. Germany led the growth in Europe (191.4 million euros, +6.6%) by importing Italian marble worth $56.48 million (42.2 million euros), an increase of 2.8% and the United Kingdom with $27.84 million (20.8 million euros) an increase of 45.1%.

The report is based on lstat data by the Marmomacc Observatory.

Marmomacc Stone Academy presents “Designing with Natural Stone 2014”

The 16th edition of Marmomacc Stone Academy’s “Designing with Natural Stone” will run from September 22 to 27, 2014 in Verona, Italy, in conjunction with Marmomacc, the world’s leading trade show for stone and related design and technologies. More than 250 U.S. architects have participated in previous editions of the course.

Veronafiere offers this course to help architects learn advanced techniques in the use of marble, granite and other stone materials. The program is a unique combination of classroom lectures, guided architectural tours and field trips to local quarries, as well as to natural stone processing facilities. This comprehensive approach enables architects to better understand stone’s full lifecycle -- including how marble is quarried, cut, processed, finished, selected for specific jobs and installed, all using the latest technologies and products.

The 2014 edition will include visits to a nearby Botticino quarry and stone processing plant, an architectural tour of Verona, case studies on the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and other projects in stone, and sessions on sustainable stone design and stone cladding as well as new finishing technologies. In addition, the course provides time to explore Marmomacc, with its more than 1,400 exhibitors of stone and stone-related products from around the world.

“Designing with Natural Stone” has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as a “Best Practices and Trends” educational program.