Isaura Daniel*
isaura.daniel@anba.com.br
São Paulo – Last year Brazil imported 2,500 tonnes of marble and granite from the Arab nations. The volume represented growth of 77% over the total purchased in 2006, which reached 1,400 tonnes. Almost all the sector imports were marble. In values, imports of marble and granite represented US$ 879,700, up 73% over the US$ 506,000 of the previous year.
According to the president of the Brazilian Association for Dimension Stones Industry (Abirochas), Sérgio Azeredo, countries in the Arab world and surrounding countries, like Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and Turkey, are producers of marble, mainly of the travertine kind, which is the type Brazil imports from the region in the largest volume. The businessman explains that Brazil also produces this kind of marble, but that it is different from the variety produced locally. Arab travertine marble, according to him, has more closed cracks than the Brazilian product.
Of all the marble and granite Brazil imports from the Arab world, over 90% comes from Egypt, the North African country. The countries in the region that sell marble to Brazil are Egypt, Lebanon, Oman and the Emirates. A small share of the granite – less than 40 tonnes – also comes from Egypt. The Emirates, according to the president at Abirochas, normally reexport the marble from neighbouring countries, like Iran.
Azeredo believes that this growth in imports is due to the greater contact between businessmen in both regions. "In the past we used to buy their marble through Italy and Spain. But with the greater participation in fairs there and with the greater contact we started buying directly from the source," stated the trade leader. He believes that imports of this kind of Arab material tend to increase even further.
Azeredo does not find it bad for the country to import marble from the Arab world, although the country also has an industry in the area. "It is good, they are bilateral relations," he said. According to him, it is important for Brazil to import products from the region to which it exports. Furthermore, there are differences between the marble produced in the Arab world and that produced in Brazil. And the main exports by the Brazilian ornamental stone sector to the region, in reality, are much larger than the purchases that Brazil makes of marble and granite from there.
In truth, the Brazilian sector trade balance as a whole (with all regions of the world) generates a surplus to Brazil. Exports total around US$ 1.1 billion and imports, US$ 44 million. The travertine marble that Brazil imports from the Arabs is normally used for internal tiling in houses. Azeredo believes that the main causes for these purchases are retailers of building material, which find in the product a cheaper option to the Brazilian and European varieties.
*Translated by Mark Ament
