São Paulo – To bring Brazilian suppliers of ornamental stone closer to Arab importers, the Brazilian Association for Dimension Stones Industry (Abirochas) is going to take three companies to the Hotel Show, a fair in the hotel sector to take place on May 24th to 26th. This should be the first participation by the company as an exhibitor. "The Arab market is growing and there are many new constructions of luxury and high-end hotels, not just in Dubai, but throughout the United Arab Emirates," said Abirochas president Sérgio Azeredo.
Over the last six years, the organisation has been promoting its products on the Arab market with participation in the Big 5 Show, a fair in the building sector, which also takes place in Dubai. According to Azeredo, many Brazilian stones may be found on the floors of shopping centres and hotels in the Arab countries, but most of them are intermediated by European companies, which are already renowned in the region. "There is a great dearth of knowledge (on the Arab side) as to where the raw material comes from," said the president, who has been working on changing this concept.
A large part of the Brazilian exports of granite plates and blocks go to Italy, around 12%, and, according to Azeredo, the stones are processed there and reexported to the Emirates. Of the US$ 955 million exported by the sector last year, the Arab market represented just 0.6%. "Sales would have been much greater if they had been direct, said the president. "With the formation of consortia, Brazilian companies may easily supply the demand of the Arab market," he added.
An example of a consortium is SPStone, which includes five granite and marble companies, mainly from the state of São Paulo, who joined forces to supply the foreign market. The group, to be at the Hotel Show, has know how for stone extraction, design, cutting techniques, floor assembly and parts for installation. On the 24th, SPStone should have a workshop for architects in the United Arab Emirates and from countries in the region showing the potential of the group and of the Brazilian sector. According to Azeredo, the event is part of the Seller Project, in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). At the workshop, the architects invited are going to see photographs and varied cases of the Brazilian presence in several constructions.
Apart from SPStone, the Abirochas stand, to cover an area of 80 square meters, should also include group Rio Stones and company Braminas, which has 10 of its own mines in São Paulo and Minas Gerais.
The fair
Last year, the Hotel Show received around 1,000 exhibitors from 46 countries. This year the fair should target the sectors of interior design, technology and safety, equipment and services for food, beverages and rooms as well as resorts.
According to the fair site, despite the global economic crisis, 61 hotels should be erected in the region up to late 2010, with total investment of US$ 8.8 billion. "These are challenging times for everyone but these latest figures show that hotel suppliers continue to have an expanding market in the Middle East," said the director of the Hotel Show, Maggie Moore, in a press release.
*Translated by Mark Ament
