São Paulo – Exports of ornamental stones from Brazil to the Arab countries were up 59% in 2021 year on year, grossing approximately USD 10 million. Despite not being one of the top destinations of Brazilian ornamental rocks, the industry is optimistic with the result of sales to the region, industry group Centrorochas reported.
The top Arab buyers of rocks from Brazil last year were the United Arab Emirates with a 48.3% share, Lybia at 30.4%, Qatar at 9.4%, Algeria at 4.8%, and Iraq at 2.5%. The rates take into account the total shipments to Arab markets.
“The Arab market is strategic for Brazil in regard with exports, given the potential and the high consumption of ornamental rocks in the region. It’s a priority market of It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone, a project that we carry out in partnership with Apex-Brazil. We believe this region holds an extremely large potential, and we’re working on actions to strengthen the brand. An example was participating in The Big 5 202. Brazil is among the top ornamental stone suppliers in the world and has increasingly stood out in the supply of finished products, serving big projects across the world,” Centrorochas Tales Machado was quoted as saying in a statement.
Overall exports
Ornamental stone exports from Brazil posted an all-time record in 2021, topping pre-pandemic levels. Revenue reached USD 1.34 billion. Last year, 2.4 million tonnes of rocks were exported from Brazil to 132 countries in five continents, up 35.5% year on year.
One of the reasons is a higher confidence of businesspeople in exporting their products following the signing of an industry agreement between Centrorochas and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil). The entities developed the project It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone, which currently supports around 140 firms by encouraging exports.
The United States ranked first as the top consumer of rocks from Brazil at 62.7%, followed by China at 11.5%, Italy at 6.5%, and Mexico at 3.8%. These four countries are part of the eight target market pointed by the industry projects. The others are the UAE, India, United Kingdom, and Russia
“In a year with serious logistical difficulties, the country’s stone industry hit an all-time high. The credibility of Centrorochas among businesspeople, together with a milder situation of the pandemic in the second half of 2021, the development of actions of the industry project and the resumption of the global construction industry, contributed to this increase. We topped by almost USD 40 million our largest revenue up to then, which had been seen in 2013,” Tales Machado was quoted as saying.
“The year of 2021 was full of challenges, but together we knew how to turn them into opportunities and victories. It’s rewarding to see that our partnership with the ornamental stone industry produced record-high exports, thus creating more jobs and revenue to thousands of Brazilian families,” Apex-Brasil president Augusto Pestana said in a statement.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
