ORLANDO, FL -- A world leader in geological diversity, Brazil will take 71 of its natural stone companies to showcase their products at Coverings 2023, the largest and most traditional stone and tile exhibition in North America for the Brazilian market. Coverings is slated for April 18th to 21st in Orlando, FL. 

The event will bring together small-, medium- and large-sized companies and is a result of It's Natural - Brazilian Natural Stone, a support program for ornamental stone exports, maintained by the Brazilian Center of Natural Stone Exporters (Centrorochas) in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil). 

The U.S. is the main importer of ornamental stones in the world and has Brazil as its primary commercial partner. The strength of this relationship becomes evident with the numbers registered in 2022. Last year alone, Americans imported approximately 3.37 billion dollars, the highest amount registered in the last seven years. The value was 6.4% more than in 2021 and, in this scenario, Brazil was the leader in the supply of materials, representing approximately 23.5% of total imports. 

Fourth largest producer in the world and fifth largest exporter, Brazil has more than 1,200 varieties of natural stone and a large industrial park for supplying blocks, finished and semi-finished products, works of art, design and architecture. Thanks to the technological production capacity, the country sees its stones go through modern and environmentally sustainable processes.

"More than 95% of all the water used in the production process is totally reused, in addition, the production residues are reused or destined to licensed deposits", said the president of Centrorochas, Tales Machado. The sector also has the lowest CO2 emission rate in production, compared to other coating options used in architectural projects.

During the four days of Coverings, visitors will have access to the Brazilian Pavilion, set up in a total area of 17,800 square feet, in the North Hall. "Besides the physical presence of the entrepreneurs and their commercial teams, visitors will be able to interact with our stones and feel all the magnificence of our quartzite, marble, granite and slate, among others," points out the sector project manager, Rogério Ribeiro.