World demand for countertops, especially for kitchens and bathrooms, is expected to rise at a rate of 2.3% annually from 2017 to 2021, when it will approach 500 million square meters. [...]

After a 2016 registering a perceptible decline in exports (down 16.3% from the previous year), 2017 opened with a definite uptake in Italy’s foreign sales of machinery, installations and tools for quarrying and processing ornamental stones. [...]

According to the figures released by the Confindustria Marmomacchine Studies Center, in the first 4 months of 2017 Italy’s overall exports of stone materials – raw and finished products – showed an increase in amounts of 15.5% from the same period in 2016, reaching 925,600 tons. [...]

According to figures from the General Administration of Chinese Customs, in 2016 China’s imports/exports of stone products slid considerably from the previous year. In fact, the volume of stone materials exported decreased from 31.35 to 26.03 million tons (-17%) with a consequent drop in the value of exports [...]

February saw release of the 2017 edition of the CONFINDUSTRIA MARMOMACCHINE Directory, the association’s annual publication distributed worldwide at tradeshows in which CONFINDUSTRIA MARMOMACCHINE participates and its “calling card” at all meetings with foreign delegations and operators working in the sector. [...]

While showing a recoup from the first quarter of 2016 – when sales had dropped 17.5% – the figures for the first nine months of the year show a decrease in exports from the Italian stone technology industry of 14.6% from the same period in 2015. In fact, the official [...]