Carrara Marmotec 2014: Upbeat and Lively

MARINA DI CARRARA, Italy – The latest edition of the CarraraMarmotec stone event turned out well with an emphasis on Italian goods and foreign participation.

Click photo for galleryThe final count for the May 21-24 event totaled 8,728 professionals, including 1,458 (18%) from beyond Italy’s borders. The 30,000 m² exhibit area included 220 direct exhibitors, with 35 foreign companies from 11 different countries.

The foreign visitors came from 80 countries where natural stone is quarried and processed, and the markets where raw and finished stone products and Italian technology are used, which accounted for a global trade surplus of over €1.5 billion in 2013.

The dominant foreign-visitor counts came from France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Turkey, but significant numbers also turned out from the Czech Republic, Russia, the United States, China and Germany.

Trade at the fair was very lively, with the participation of numerous official delegations, making a total of approximately 400 contractors, architects, designers and specialists in quarry and processing work.

The Italian and foreign visitors appreciated the Innovation Corner, an industry-first presentation to show what is new in the field of innovation for stone quarrying and processing machinery and systems presented by the exhibitors.

The winning architects of the Marble Architectural Awards – MAA 2014, featuring projects from North America and Central America, received their honors during the event. The international competition for architects, planners and designers focuses on work that uses Italian stone materials or materials processed in Italy.

“Carrara Marmotec has once again confirmed its position as an international event thanks to the number and quality of its exhibitors and visitors,” said Paris Mazzanti, Carrara Fiere director. “From our statistical surveys and research, it is clear that the number and quality of visitors is in line with the current market trends that favor Italian products.

“The good participation of Italian operators, on the other hand, even in the light of the national market that is certainly not expanding, is the result of our widespread promotion and continuous contact with companies.”

CarraraFiere’s Chairman, Fabio Felici, noted that, “our commitment over the coming months will be to identify new design solutions together with all the stakeholders in the industry to be implemented in future editions.

“Based on the survey that we conducted among exhibitors to evaluate the results, it emerged that the technology sector is the one that experienced the most-positive results. Marble, on the other hand, showed a less-satisfactory performance, which was also due to the situation of the domestic market, and we have to consider all this in the planning of the next edition.”

The next Carrara Marmotec will be held in May 2016.

Carrara Marmotec is organized by CarraraFiere and promoted by the Internazionale Marmi e Macchine Carrara Spa. It is sponsored by the Ministry for Economic Development, the ICE, the agency for promotion abroad and the internationalization of Italian companies, the Tuscan Regional Government, Toscana Promozione, Massa Carrara Provincial Administration, Massa Council, Carrara Council, the Association of Industrialists of Massa Carrara, AIPI (the Italian association for Interior Designers).