June 11, 2007 | Recommend this Article »

Stone+tec 2007 in Nürnberg

Industry looks to the future with confidence - Over 41,000 visitors from Germany, Europe and the whole world

With over 41,000 trade visitors, Stone+tec 2007, the 15. International Trade Fair Natural Stone and Stoneprocessing Technology in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 6-9 June 2007, registered encouraging growth over the previous event two years ago.

“That the natural stone industry is recovering again has been apparent since last year,” says Roland Kast, Exhibition Director of Stone+tec at NürnbergMesse. “The market remains a hard-fought market, however, and the result of this process was still clearly noticeable on the part of the exhibitors. This makes us all the more pleased about the great influx of visitors on the four days of the exhibition.” The 2007 edition of the exhibition has proved its great stability with 961 exhibitors and over 41,000 visitors. “The mood at Stone+tec 2007 was better than for a long time and noticeably marked by a great urge for action. This is the best proof for us that the natural stone industry celebrates its grand festival in Central Europe here in Nürnberg every two years,” Kast continues.

“For the German stonemasons, Stone+tec is the get-together for sourcing concentrated information about new products in the segments of natural stone and technology and the opportunity to exchange views,” emphasizes Martin Schwieren, Master of the Federal Guild of the Deutsches Steinmetz-, Stein- und Holzbildhauerhandwerk (BIV). “The exhibition is also an indicator of the mood in the industry.
Overall, the stonemasons’ profit situation still has room for improvement, but light is visible on the horizon. The German stonemasonry trade therefore looks to the future positively.”

The natural stone producers are also showing signs of optimism again: “Natural stone has lost none of its fascination over the past years. On the contrary, the consumption of natural stone is growing throughout the world,” says Reiner Krug, General Manager of the Deutscher Naturwerkstein-Verband DNV. Good prospects exist for the German natural stone industry in the medium and long term because it has the best building know-how in the world and a considerable spectrum of natural stones from its own deposits to meet the key requirements – especially among young architects and building planners – of “local stones”, without transport all over the world, building to suit the countryside and preservation of the wealth of historic buildings.

Reiner Krug sees the appreciation of natural stone among developers and architects as a long-term trend that will continue to grow: “There are justified prospects of increasing the market share for natural stone. Even small amounts of growth in the market share can cause many times more growth in the industry, if it is considered that this is only between two and five per cent in key market segments like floor coverings and exterior wall claddings.”

The next Stone+tec in the cycle takes place in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 20-23 May 2009.