São Paulo – Launching new products and reaching new markets in 2009 is the aim of Altivo Pedras, a company that operates with mining, processing and exports of slate and quartize in the municipality of Papagaios, in the state of Minas Gerais, the leading hub of slate extraction in Brazil. The Arab countries, both those located in the Middle East and in North Africa, are among the target markets for expanding exports, which currently already answer to 95% of company revenues.
“We are very much interested in closing deals with those markets, in which there is always new investment underway in civil construction,” says Roberta Maciel, sales manager at Altivo. According to her, exporting is no longer a matter of opportunity, but rather a permanent activity for the company. "Beginning in 1990, by means of personal contacts and visits, Altivo Pedras won the most demanding international markets," she explains. Currently, the company exports mainly to several countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
“We intend to enter new markets, create new projects, as we already do all the time, and continue to maintain the image of our company, which translates into quality and efficiency,” says Roberta. Exports are usually direct and the main product sold to the foreign market is slate – a fine-grained sedimentary rock characterised by its perfect cleavage, which enables it to form large plaques with few millimetres of thickness and seamless surface.
Physical properties such as medium hardness, low porosity and high resistance allow for the broad use of slate as a facing in different fields of civil construction and architecture. The rock is mainly comprised of quartz, white mica, chlorite, feldspar, carbonate and iron oxide.
Founded in 1985, Altivo Pedras has its own reservoirs, from where it extracts slate in the black, grey, green, red, rust and Mont Noir tones. The manufacturer of a broad range of products such as flooring and wall tiles, roof tiles, sheets, billiard tabletops, mosaics, cubes, stairsteps, door frames, furniture and customised products of various sizes and thicknesses. It also offers different finishings such as polished, calibrated, brushed, anti-slide, natural and aged. It also works with white, yellow and pink quartzite.
“The quality of the end product depends on care that starts during extraction. In a constant quest for offering the best in the market, the company extracts its products from its own reserves, thus ensuring a steady supply, high quality standards and the meeting of delivery deadlines, " says the manager.
Environmental responsibility
At the mining company, all industrial residues are crushed for use in civil construction. By the same token, the water used is fully recycled, undergoing decantation and filtering processes. Packaging is manufactured using appropriate wood from reforestation areas, thus avoiding environmental degradation.
Website: www.altivopedras.com
E-mail: vendas@altivopedras.com
Telephone: (+55 37) 3274-1500
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
