ApexBrasil visits ornamental stone exporting companies

The Coordinator of sectoral projects at ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), Paulo Roberto da Silva, and Analyst Emerson Raiol visited Espírito Santo between December 7th and 9th, when they had the opportunity to get to know the reality of the productive arrangement of dimension stones. The program included meetings in Vitória, Vila Velha, Serra and Cachoeiro de Itapemirim.

The Agency and Centrorochas (Centro Brasileiro dos Exportadores de Pedras Ornamentais) are partners in the execution of It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone, a sectoral project that aims to stimulate and increase exports of Brazilian ornamental stones. The state of Espírito Santo was chosen for the visit because it is the largest national exporter in the segment and has the highest concentration of companies per square meter.

In addition to visiting companies in the sector, the agenda included strategic meetings such as a visit to a port terminal and a chat about the new Vitória Stone Fair. The president of Centrorochas, Tales Machado; the deputy, Fabio Cruz; the executive director, Celmo de Freitas; the project manager, Rogério Ribeiro; the relationship manager, Mila Romanelli; and the communication advisor, Karina Porto Firme. Learn more about visits:

Day 01 (07/12 – Vila Velha and Vitória)

– TVV

The agenda was opened by a visit to the Port Terminal of Vila Velha, TVV, operated by Log-in Logística Intermodal. In a guided tour, the commercial executive of the port, Daniel Correa, presented the local structure, processes and planned improvements, such as the installation of two new cranes in January 2022. Of German origin, each machine supports up to 150 tons (the current holds up to 45 tons). The improvement will make boarding and disembarking processes even more agile.

– Management Committee

The first It’s Natural management committee meeting was held in a hybrid format. At the opening, the ApexBrasil Project Manager, Emerson Raiol, highlighted the importance of the visit and spoke about the relevance of the national stone sector. In his participation, coordinator Paulo Roberto da Silva, emphasized that the segment has always been active in promoting its products, crossing borders in search of new customers and potential markets.

Management committee members participating in the meeting: Daniel Salume, Gabriel Cabeza, Gustavo Probst, Leonardo Tatagiba, Cristiani Mineti, Renan Catelan and Tales Machado. The agenda also included the participation of the project manager, Rogério Ribeiro, and the executive director, Celmo de Freitas.

Subjects on the agenda discussed by the participating group: details of the ApexBrasil visit agenda; project participation in the Kbis 2022 fair; forecast for the launch of the public notice for personalized actions; accountability balance sheet and audit forecast; draw and next steps for Coverings 2022.

– Victoria Stone Fair

In a meeting at the headquarters of Milanez & Milaneze, the company responsible for organizing the Brazilian fairs in the stone sector Vitoria Stone Fair and Cachoeiro Stone Fair, ApexBrasil members were able to learn about the new concept of the international fair that will take place from February 15 to 18, 2022 The company’s CEO, Flávia Milaneze, showed the news. Completely revamped, Vitoria Stone Fair will debut special projects focused on offering a different experience to visitors.

Day 2 (12/08 – Itapemirim Waterfall)

– White marble quarry

The second day began with a visit to the Imil white marble quarry, one of the most traditional companies in the sector in Brazil. Operating since 1946, the company has 64 hectares of property and a mining area of 52 hectares. 100% of what is produced on site is used, whether in block, carved block, brown stone or gravel. Accompanied by the engineer Cláudio Carneiro, the visitors witnessed the overturning of a board weighing around 700 tons.

– Visit to Magban

Following the production process of the block, after extraction, the dimension stones go to the industry where they are processed. On a guided tour of Magban by partners Tales and Gonsalo Machado, visitors learned about the company’s production process, which has its own quarries and currently distributes its products to more than 50 countries.

– Visit to Pettrus

One of the forerunners in the supply of semi-precious and super exotic ornamental stones, Pettrus is characterized by the exclusivity of materials of the highest quality standards. The company’s owner, Maxwell Viquietti Alcântara, showed the modern machinery with the latest technology, such as an Italian polishing machine, one of the few existing units in Brazil.

Day 3 (12/09 – Serra)

– Visit to Zucchi

The entrepreneurial vision and constant investment in state-of-the-art equipment was highlighted during the visit to Zucchi. The tour to the industrial area was conducted by the commercial director, Leonardo Tatagiba, who detailed the entire production process and highlighted the renovation.

100% of the machinery that will start operating by the end of March. One of the machines is already in operation, capable of carving sculptures with impressive details.

– Visit to Brasilgran

The visit schedule ended with a visit to Brasigran, a reference company in the sector which, with the support of its parent company, Mineração Corcovado, specialized in the extraction of exclusive exotic materials from its own deposits and with extensive operations in the foreign market, is one of the leaders national exports of sheets and finished products. The tour of the industry was guided by the commercial director, Ricardo Schevz, who presented Brasigran Home, an area dedicated to the execution of projects.

About It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone

It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone is an export incentive program developed by the Brazilian Center for Ornamental Stones Exporters (Centrorochas) in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil). The program aims to stimulate and increase exports of Brazilian ornamental stones, through a set of strategic internationalization actions with promotion actions, strengthening the image and development of the sector in the world market.

About Centrorochas

The Centro Brasileiro dos Exportadores de Pedras Ornamentais acts directly in the procedures related to the presence of Brazilian businessmen abroad combined with commercial and operational activities related to the development and evolution of Brazilian companies.

About ApexBrasil

ApexBrasil acts to promote Brazilian products and services abroad and attract foreign investment to strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy. To achieve these goals, the Agency carries out diversified trade promotion actions aimed at promoting exports and valuing Brazilian products and services abroad, such as prospective and trade missions, business roundtables, support for the participation of Brazilian companies in major international fairs, visits of foreign buyers and opinion makers to get to know the Brazilian production structure, among other business platforms that also aim to strengthen the Brazil brand.