Brazilian Natural Stone Expands Focus Beyond U.S.

VITÓRIA, Brazil – While the United States served as Brazil’s largest market for natural stone in 2025, ongoing tariff battles is leading the South American giant to expand commercial efforts abroad with a new set of initiatives across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

The Brazilian Natural Stone Association (Centrorochas) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) will target up to 65 new international buyers early next year through the It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone program for rounds of negotiations over the next few months.

Goals include 20 new buyers for a round of negotiations in Poland, 25 for Marmomac Brazil (in addition to eight others previous planned), and another 20 for meeting with Brazilian companies during the Xiamen Stone Fair in China.

Despite the search for new destinations for Brazilian stone, that nation is not cutting back on operations in the United States, which last year accounted for 53.5% of the sector’s export value and $795 million in purchases.

Expanding the diversification of markets is based on market studies, prospecting missions and commercial intelligence aimed at identifying new destinations for Brazilian stone. After considerable research, Brazilian officials believe it’s time to move from the prospecting phase to a more commercial stage focusing on generating business from these potential buyers.

“We have already carried out significant intelligence and prospecting work to identify where opportunities lie for Brazilian natural stone,” says Centrorochas President Tales Machado. “Now it is time to turn this knowledge into business deals.”

Even before the three rounds of negotiations begin, the sector will participate in Big 5 Dubai in November, strengthening the presence of Brazilian stone in the Middle East.

Machado says Poland is the clearest example of It’s Natural’s strategy. In January the country will host a round of negotiations featuring 15 Brazilian companies and 20 international buyers from Central and Eastern Europe. The sessions are expected to generate up to $8.5 million in deals during the event and up to $130 million over the following 12 months.

A total of 33 international buyers is expected for Marmomac Brazil in early March. Sessions with 25 Brazilian companies are expected to generate up to $45.5 million over the following year. Those attending will also have the opportunity for technical visits to expose them to the country’s production capacity and the diversity of Brazilian materials.

Two weeks later, Brazil expects to expose another 20 international buyers to its products during the Xiamen Stone Fair and anticipates up to $42 million in sales. Prospecting will focus on markets such s Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, India, and Türkiye.

Besides seeking new buyers, the sector is also targeting markets that already consume Brazilian stone, although not always directly from Brazil. However, reaching new markets directly also requires more than just identifying demand.

Diversification also depends on the availability of routes and the competitive logistical conditions.  Centrorochas officials have suggested cross-referencing markets with the greatest commercial potential against available routes, assessing alternatives to expand connectivity and making freight costs more competitive.