A world leader in geological diversity, Brazil will take 71 of its natural stone companies to showcase their products at Coverings 2023, the largest and most traditional coverings industry fair in North America for the Brazilian market, which will take place April 18-21 in Orlando, Florida.
The event will bring together small, medium, and large companies and is a result of It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone, a support program for ornamental stone exports, maintained by the Brazilian Center of Natural Stone Exporters (Centrorochas) in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).
The United States is the main importer of ornamental stones in the world and has Brazil as its primary commercial partner. The strength of this relationship becomes evident with the numbers registered in 2022. Last year alone, the Americans imported approximately 3.37 billion dollars, the highest amount registered in the last seven years. The value was 6.4% more than in 2021 and, in this scenario, Brazil was the leader in the supply of materials, representing approximately 23.5% of total imports.
Fourth largest producer in the world and 5th largest exporter, Brazil has more than 1,200 varieties of natural stone and a large industrial park for supplying blocks, finished and semi-finished products, works of art, design and architecture. Thanks to the technological production capacity, the country sees its stones go through modern and environmentally sustainable processes.
“More than 95% of all the water used in the production process is totally reused, in addition, the production residues are reused or destined to licensed deposits”, says the president of Centrorochas, Tales Machado. The sector also has the lowest CO2 emission rate in production, compared to other coating options used in architectural projects.
During the four days of Coverings, visitors will have access to the Brazilian Pavilion, set up in a total area of 17,800 square feet, in the North Hall. “Besides the physical presence of the entrepreneurs and their commercial teams, visitors will be able to interact with our stones and feel all the magnificence of our quartzite, marble, granite and slate, among others”, points out the sector project manager, Rogério Ribeiro.
Relevant products
Among the various types of existing Brazilian natural stones, quartzite has been gaining a prominent place. Brazil is the largest producer and supplier of this material that has gained evidence recently, due to the advancement of technology and mineral research.
About It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone
The It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone is an export incentive program developed by the Brazilian Center of Natural Stones Exporters (Centrorochas) in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil). The program aims to stimulate and increase the exports of Brazilian natural stones, through a set of strategic actions for internationalization with promotional activities, strengthening the image and development of the sector in the market worldwide.
About Centrorochas
The Brazilian Center of Natural Stones Exporters acts directly on the procedures related to the presence of Brazilian businesspeople abroad combined with commercial and operational activities related to the development and evolution of Brazilian companies.
About ApexBrasil
ApexBrasil works to promote Brazilian products and services abroad and attract foreign investment to strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy. In order to achieve these objectives, the Agency carries out diversified trade promotion actions aiming at promoting exports and enhancing the value of Brazilian products and services abroad, such as prospective and trade missions, business rounds, supporting the participation of Brazilian companies in major international fairs, visits of foreign buyers and opinion leaders to be introduced to the Brazilian productive structure, among other business platforms that also aim at strengthening the Brazil brand.
