Stone exporters target Chinese market after record exports

After ornamental stone exports increased by about 20% in 2022, breaking the record for this type of product, the Chinese market is the next target for Ceará-based exporters from the mining sector.

Without accounting for the last two months of the year, 56,000 tonnes were sold between January and October, with another 9,600 tonnes expected to be exported soon. According to Carlos Rubens, president of the Union of Marble and Granite Industries of the State of Ceará (Simagran), the financial value of these transactions should be around US$ 42 million (or around R$ 217.5 million).

“In 2015, we exported $14 million, which we tripled in seven years. Such accelerated growth is explained by the fact that after an intense phase of research and obtaining environmental licenses – with the establishment of a country-wide regulatory framework in between – many businesses have begun extracting stones for commerce,” explained Rubens on the first day of the Fortaleza Brazil Stone Fair 2022 event.

Part of these optimistic projections also stems from advances in the logistics of moving marble and granite blocks at the Pecém Industrial Port Complex (CIPP), as explained by the director of Termaco Logística and Tecer Terminais, Carlos Maia. These advances will allow ornamental stones to be exported, for the first time, from Ceará to China in 2023.

On a national level, the Asian country is becoming the second largest importer of ornamental stones, with purchases worth US$ 153.6 million (or R$ 795.6 million), trailing only the United States, which purchased US$ 838.5 million (about R$ 4.3 billion), and far ahead of Italy, which purchased US$ 86.4 million (approximately R$ 447.5 million).

The Atlas for Geology and Mining, a digital interactive platform, was launched during the event in Fortaleza. This platform provides scholars, governments, and investors with information such as the location of the main deposits of each ore, the presence of an environmental preservation area nearby, and the local infrastructure, among other things.

Source: O Povo

To read the full original article, please go to: https://mais.opovo.com.br/jornal/economia/2022/11/10/apos-recorde-de-exportacoes-setor-de-rochas-mira-mercado-chines.html

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