May 18 to 21 were the dates in Xiamen, China, for the 2021 edition of the XIAMEN STONE FAIR, which has long been one of the top shows worldwide for stone materials, quarrying and processing technologies and complementary products. The event was the first in-person international natural stone sector tradeshow to be held in 2021: it occupied 20 pavilions for a total of more than 160,000 square meters of display space and hosted 1,100 exhibitors.
Confindustria Marmomacchine was also present, with its own official stand managed by local staff and located in the Italia area the association organized. This year the pavilion dedicated to the stone/techno-stone products Made in Italy at the Xiamen International Conference & Exhibition Center featured the following top sector brands: BASALTINA | INTERMAC DIVISIONE VETRO E MARMO-BIESSE| BRETON | DONATONI MACCHINE | FRANCHI UMBERTO MARMI | GDA MARMI E GRANITI | GMM | GRASSI PIETRE | MONTRESOR & CO | PEDRINI.
We remind readers that official 2020 export data processed by the Confindustria Marmomacchine Studies Center showed that China was the top buyer of raw Italian stone materials, with more than 133 million euros in imports, and the fifteenth buyer of finished and semi-finished stone products, with more than 20 million euros in orders. Where imports of technologies to quarry and process stone were concerned, in 2020 China bought machines, installations, consumables and equipment Made in Italy worth 16.5 million euros, ranking sixteenth among foreign buyers in value terms.