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| October 2000 |
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News from the world of stone - printed or on the Internet! | ||
Less and less time is available for decisions. Up-to-date information becomes increasingly vital. The Stonereport newsletter helps you as natural stone producer or processor to make the right decisions in the brief time available. It supplies the information you need as a businessman in a brief and manageable form. It contains nothing but facts - and comes straight to the point. Not a line too few, not a page too many. Stonereport is an informative medium based on Internet requirements and briefs the international natural stone companies on the major markets for semi-finished and finished products of natural stone. One of its main topics is the market in Central Europe - besides the USA and some cities in Asia still one of the world’s most important consumer markets for natural stone. Stonereport gives globally operating natural stone producers and processors useful information and facts for their company that can be rapidly put into everyday practice. Stonereport has been published since May 2000 and is printed in English, Italian and Spanish. It is also available online in German. This free information service from Stone+tec in Nürnberg and the STEIN journal provides the latest news month for month, indicates material trends, and reports on developments in the international natural stone markets. You can subscribe to the newsletter on the Internet - free, of course! 
Profit from the Stonereport team’s many years of experience with natural
stone. We will be pleased to send further information. We look forward to hearing from you - plus, of course, your criticisms and ideas! Your STONEREPORT Team Guido Welk, Peter Ottmann, Richard Watzke, Willy Hafner Are you already online? Then click and join us: Are you reading Stonereport on the Internet? If you are, you can benefit in two ways: Stonereport is published monthly on the dot on your screen, and on top of this you can also win a trip. The winners of our Stone+Click competition will be invited together with one accompanying person to visit Stone+tec 2001 in Nürnberg free of charge. You too can experience the main natural stone exhibition for the markets in Europe and the international hub of worldwide natural stone activities »live» and after this take a look at one of the most important »natural stone building sites« in the world. You will be our VIP guest in Nürnberg and in Berlin. Where, we’re not going to tell you! |
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Natural stone trends in Europe | ||
 Everyone
is talking about the Middle East and Far East, the USA and China or India,
but Europe is and remains the most important natural stone market in the
world. With over 25 million tons of stone, Europe produces far more than
half of the world’s requirement. Europe also remains the top consumer.
Italy and Germany use twice as much stone a year as China and the main
natural stone trends still come from the countries of the »old« continent.
Especially split materials are currently in demand in Central Europe.
Finishes given an artificial old appearance are also popular. As an expression
of elegance and timelessness, gray in all its shades is still rated highly
for commercial building. Apart from black and gray, more colorful varieties
are also on the up. Building renovation and landscaping are also regarded
as decisive markets of the future. A shift towards coarser surface processing
is also clear. In addition, Germany and its neighboring countries are
experiencing a renaissance in solid natural stone building. Over eleven
percent of the world’s production of natural stone is already used in
this sector today. |
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| Blocks for Europe | |||
 Carrara
of the North, not any more! Antwerp with its natural stone quay 208 is
today’s block port for Central Europe. There are almost 70,000 tons of
natural stone blocks here. 80 percent of the heavy stone blocks are still
sawn into gravestones, but an increasing number of the blocks here are
for the building sector. A large part of the blocks are sent to Germany.
Only those who see the stones buy them. This especially applies to those
raw blocks required for the production of gravestones: in Germany, as
in Belgium, France and all over Europe. A ship docks in Antwerp at least
three times a month to unload granite blocks from India, Brazil, South
Africa, Scandinavia or China. An average of over 5,000 blocks are stored
here. A total of 51 companies have their warehouse in Antwerp. The big
block dealers, the »global players«, have over a thousand blocks available
here. And not only the Germans come: Antwerp has also become the block
port for the Dutch, Belgians, Austrians, Swiss and French. A block port
for the whole of Europe? Almost! |
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Solid but how? | ||
 Frank
O. Gehry is doing it, Oswald Mathias Ungers is doing it, Peter Zumthor
is doing it, Christof Mäckler is doing it and Hans Kollhoff is doing it;
they are all building with solid stone. Whereas a few years ago the natural
stone façade had become an external sleeve - a clever theme or ironical
interpretation for cosmetic purposes, many of today’s architects are falling
back on the construction method of a facing shell of natural stone. This
is covered in Germany by DIN 1053. Non-bearing exterior walls must be
at least 90 millimeters thick and fully supported over the whole area.
Outer shells less than 115 millimeters thick must not be built more than
20 meters above ground and must be supported at height intervals of about
six meters. The masonry shells are to be fixed by wire anchors or approved
retaining anchors of stainless steel. In double-shell exterior walls with
air layer and heat insulation, the clear space between the masonry shells
must not exceed 150 millimeters. The minimum thickness of the air layer
is 40 millimeters. |
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India: More and more finished products | ||
 India’s
export of raw blocks is stagnating and even dropping slightly. Exports
in 1999 decreased by just under three percent. This contrasts with the
export of semi-finished and finished products, which is constantly increasing.
Over 350,000 tons were exported in 1999. Production in India has expanded
twenty-fold since 1990. Natural stone dealers from the USA are still the
best buyers in India, but Europe is catching up all the time. The top
buyer in Europe is Germany, which buys mainly gravestones. The import
of finished gravestones from India rose rapidly and constantly in the
years from 1991 to 1995 and after a decline in 1996 now continues to grow
at a somewhat slower rate. The increase last year in terms of quantity
was almost five percent. In terms of value, imports even rose by as much
as eight percent. The value of imports achieved in 1998 was some 17 million
Euro. India’s export of semi-finished and finished products to USA (red Line) and Europa. |
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| The Swiss are the top consumers in Europe | |||
 The
highest per head consumption of natural stone in the world is in Greece.
Converted to a panel thickness of two centimeters, 151 square meters of
natural stone per 100 inhabitants were »consumed« there last year. Saudi
Arabia follows in second place with 139 square meters and Switzerland
in third place with 132 square meters. Italy with 101 square meters -
still behind Belgium with 117 square meters - occupies only fifth place.
A consumption of 55 square meters was determined for Germany. Per head consumption of natural stone in selected countries Square meters of natural stone per 100 inhabitants |
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Nürnberg - international hub for natural stone | ||
 Germany
is not just of outstanding importance as a buyer of natural stone, but
also as a hub for the international natural stone industry. Germany lies
in the geographical center of the growing qualitative and quantitative
demand for natural stone and natural stone processing in Europe. Stone+tec
2001 in Nürnberg from 24 - 27 May of the coming year will again become
the central exhibition forum in this market - for all quarrying, processing
and working equipment and natural stone maintenance, and for the specialized
market for restoration, gravestones and accessories. A total of 46,052
visitors came to Stone+tec 99 from 88 countries and the level of internationality
was 23 percent. Some 95 percent of the exhibitors registered international
visitors on their stand - proof of the high caliber of the visitors and
their procurement authority. 726 of the 1,188 exhibitors at Stone+tec
99, i.e. around two-thirds, came from countries other than Germany. Stone+tec
with its spectrum of products therefore offers a comprehensive view of
the market - throughout Germany, Europe and the world - on some 90,000
square meters of display space every two years. The latest information
about Stone+tec 2001 is available on the Internet at www.stone-tec.com
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Joint appearance | ||
Welcome to Verona: Marmomacc, the international trade fair for natural
stone, opens its doors in Verona from 28.9 - 1.10.2000. Visit us in hall
16, stand D2. In addition to the Stonereport team, here you will also
find STEIN, the trade journal for the natural stone industry and the stonemasonry
trade, together with the FLIESEN UND PLATTEN journal, the market-leader
for the tile industry and trade in the German-speaking regions. With an
advertisement in FLIESEN + PLATTEN, the journal for the tiling trade,
and STEIN, the trade journal for the natural stone market, you can reach
over 20,000 natural stone processing firms in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Use this partnership for your market in Central Europe. We can offer you
attractive combinations. You can also use the two trade media STEIN (8,500
copies per month) and FLIESEN UND PLATTEN (12,400 copies per month) for
approaching your target groups. Further information about the attractive
combination offers can be obtained from Gerhard Layer, Tel. +49 (89) 436
005 149; layer@callwey.de
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a service from Stone+tec and STEIN | © 2001 Stone+tec & STEIN
E-Mail: info@stonereport.com