Paulo F. Giafarov,
President, DGG Stones, Brazil
The local market in Brazil is currently very dynamic and there is a lot of construction going on, especially in cities like Sao Paulo, Fortaleza and Camboriú. Some of the projects can be considered being high-end projects with a selling value up to EU 12,000.00 per square meter. Most of the projects are supported by investments funds and investors from outside the country. Due the exchange rate between the Real, the Brazilian currency, and the Euro, we have also seen an increase in demand of single units housing from European investors.
This high local demand is keeping the Brazilian stone companies quite busy in the short and also for the medium term. The local market for slabs has been on an ascendent curve with a huge request for local marbles and quartzites. Not to mention the fabricators which in certain cases have extended delivery times due to the great number of projects in their pipeline.
On the top of that, stone exports for the USA market have been increasing in the last few months. The weakness of around 15% of the Real against the US dollar in the last 12 months is something that should be of great help to the exporters. However, the inflation rate too is high, increasing costs for the local companies. Interest rates are around 12 to 15% per year in Brazil.
The Taj Mahal family of quartzite continues to be the most popular stone sold in USA and also in the European markets. Despite the leadership of The Taj Mahal in the market, quartzites like white, off white, light grey and beige also remain in high demand. Not to forget the family of Cristallo stone which has all the quarry production sold even before the official orders come in.
Brazil has now become an important extractor and processor of marble. Most of the marble comes from an area close to Curitiba in the south of the country. There are at least six quarries producing a white dolomitic marble with very good technical characteristics and it has great acceptance in the local market and in USA as well.
Green color is still in fashion, and quartzites like Victoria Regia, Emeral Green, J’Adore and Bothanic have been specified by architects and interior designers. In addition to the green color no less popular are the gray quartzites getting more and more space in the market. Just to mention- Apollo, Platinus and Donatello quartzites. There is a good demand for these two colors in the local market.
Exports this year are around 15% higher than last year, indicating a continuing popularity of Brazilian materials all over the world. The architects and interior designers in China have discovered the beauty of the Brazilian quartzites and as a consequence the request for this kind of stone is getting bigger and bigger in the Chinese market. That being said and considering the already consolidated USA market and dynamic local marketn, the production of quartzites in Brazil is evidently growing.
New quarries are currently being opened in states like Bahia, Minas Gerais, Ceará, Goiás, Mato Grosso and Paraná. Especially of the following materials: quartzites and marbles. One important aspect to be considered for the future is the fact that some yellowish materials are back in the mind of the specifiers and, as a consequence, two or three quarries have reopened. It’s too early to say whether the yellows are back in fashion but they might be in the coming times.
Investments in machinery continues to be dynamic. Brazilian stone companies continue to be optimistic about the future, and new machinery like diamond wire gangsaws, polishing lines, waterjet and CNC machines are being purchased. These last two kinds of machines have been in demand a lot and the local market is day by day demanding more thickness stones. More and more massive pieces have been designed by the architects and interior designers showing that natural stones are the logical option when it comes to create something different in terms of new design of furniture, lamps, benches, bath tubes, sinks, cornices, jambs, special elements for façades, and etc.
The architects are playing a special role in the development of the Brazilian Stone Industry. For sure colors, patterns and performance are important factors for them to specify a stone. However, beyond the architect’s focus on these factors, the sustainability criteria in specifying any kind of material in Brazil is becoming a major issue. Questions like sustainable extraction, recycling process, life cycle assessment and EPD study are more and more put on the table during the specification process. Many Brazilian stone companies have already adopted sustainable process in their extraction and fabrication process.
Despite the competition with alternative materials which have huge production, the natural stones continue to be the best option when we desire something beauty, eternal, shapeable and sustainable. Overall, the stone industry in Brazil is currently going through a very positive phase.
PROJECTS FORTALEZA, SÃO PAULO AND CAMBORIÚ
