The guidance of İZFAŞ continues on the way to make İzmir a fair and world city. İZFAŞ, which leads sustainable economic growth by bringing together high value-added production with exports, as well as bringing competitive, fast and safe trade fairs to the sectors, is preparing for the 26th Marble İzmir Fair with all of its capacity.
The whole industry is in unity
The whole sector became in full unity for Marble İzmir – International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair, which will take place in fuarizmir on August 25-28, 2021. As part of the preparations for Marble İzmir, where the fair and the sector nourish each other, visitor activities continue all over the world.
In this context, there was important participation in the Coverings Fair, which was held on July 7-9 in North America and where processed products were the center of attention. In the fair, where national and individual participation took place under the guidance of the Istanbul Mineral Exporters’ Association (İMİB), the meetings held with also the participation of İZFAŞ aim to attract the attention of architects and project managers by increasing the visits to the 26th Marble İzmir Fair from the USA.
America leads the way in processed product preference
The Turkish natural stone industry, which is one of the sectors that has awakened after the pandemic, where global trade has come to a halt, has achieved a record 35.21 percent increase in exports compared to the January-May period of last year.
The Turkish natural stone industry, which increased its exports from 2 billion tons to 3 billion tons in a year, increased its export figure from 595 million 323 thousand 882 dollars to 804 million 945 thousand 307 dollars and brought foreign currency to the country. China, the United States of America, France, Israel, Iraq, India, Germany, Australia, United Arab Emirates and Libya were the top 10 countries that preferred Turkish natural stone respectively, where exports of high value-added products increased as well as block exports. According to the January-May 2021 reports, there was an increase of 22.75 percent in the number of processed marble exports, while the economic growth was recorded as 15.9 percent. The United States of America took the lead in the export of processed products. Increases in export figures instilled hope in the sector.
“Turkish stone” effect on Coverings Fair
Marble İzmir Fair attaches importance to international standards in order to expand the use of Turkish natural stone in the world, increases the added value of the sector and adds strength to the economy. Turkish stone, which has different colors and types according to each type of project, is being introduced in America at the Coverings Fair within the scope of Marble İzmir.
Under the leadership of Istanbul Mineral Exporters’ Association Chairman Aydın Dinçer, İZFAŞ General Manager Canan Karaosmanoğlu Alıcı and İZFAŞ Fairs Managing Director Gökalp Soygül, the companies participating in the Coverings Fair are introducing the “Turkish Stone” campaign to the project managers and architects in America. Joining forces with the “Use Natural Stone” campaign of the American Natural Stone Institute, “Turkish Stone” will also raise hopes of the participants of the 26th Marble İzmir Fair. With the acceleration of the vaccination processes, international flights will become more convenient and large-scale visitor activities in the United States will also add vitality to the sector.
Relations with America are getting stronger
The visitor activities carried out within the scope of the 26th Marble İzmir Fair aim to increase the participation of architects and project developers as well as block exports in the light of all these developments. The United States of America, which ranks first among the countries that prefer processed product exports, is the focus country of these activities. In this context, the American Natural Stone Institute, one of the world’s largest natural stone organizations, has been carrying out its activities in Turkey for three years in partnership with İZFAŞ in order to increase the natural stone exchange between Turkey and the United States and to ensure that natural stone in Turkey is produced in accordance with world standards.
The American Natural Stone Institute, a commercial association that has more than 2,000 members from 55 countries around the world, introduced its user guide, which represents every aspect of the natural stone industry, from the manufacturer to the end-user, for the first time in Turkey three years ago, at fuarizmir. Acting with the awareness that Turkey is a great treasure for America, the American Natural Stone Institute provides training to Turkish manufacturers for the quality production of stone by performing tests in accordance with the natural stone standards determined by ASTM – American Testing and Materials Association. The impacts of the cooperation between the American Natural Stone Institute and İZFAŞ will be reflected in the 26th Marble İzmir Fair after the Covering Fair.
