27th Marble İzmir opens its doors: The world natural stone industry meets at Anatolia’s Gem

27th Marble Izmir Opens Its Doors: The World Natural Stone Industry Meets at Anatolia’s Gem

The heartbeat of Türkiye’s natural stone exports, Marble Izmir Fair, is eagerly anticipated. After nearly two weeks of operational processes, the 27th Marble Izmir Fair has completed its preparations to host the global natural stone industry at Fuarizmir from March 30 to April 2, 2022. Even before opening, the fair has already initiated trade with the sale of block stones during the setup process, bringing hope to the natural stone sector in 2022.

The Sector's Gateway to Export: Marble Izmir - International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair

With all its grandeur, the fair is thrilled to open its doors for the 27th time. This year, the event highlights Türkiye's importance in the sector, showcasing the country's vast marble reserves under the theme "Anatolia's Gem." As a leader in global trade due to its variety of colors and patterns, Turkish natural stone will once again connect with international buyers at the 27th Marble Izmir Fair. Through its operational strength, buyer delegation programs, visitor initiatives, design competitions, and international events, the fair continues to create new opportunities for the industry.

A Massive 150,000-Square-Meter Operation!

All areas of Fuarizmir, including halls A, B, C, D, and the open space, are fully occupied. The open area will display block stones and heavy machinery, halls A and B will showcase natural stones, hall C will exhibit marble machinery, and hall D will feature consumables. As one of the world's largest natural stone fairs, Marble Izmir's operational preparations were completed in about two weeks, starting from March 17. The fair, held over 150,000 square meters, hosts nearly 1,000 exhibitors and around 1,400 block stones. Exhibitors will present products such as natural stones, processed and semi-processed stones, marble machinery, construction machinery, and consumables.

A highly anticipated industry event, the fair welcomes participation from Iran with a pavilion-style exhibition, alongside international companies from Germany, the USA, Italy, India, and Hong Kong. Additionally, this year, 60% of hall C has been designated as the "Machinery and Machinery Technologies Hall," accommodating marble machinery companies that were previously located in outdoor areas.

High Sales Demand Even Before Opening

By midnight on March 29, 2022, the number of block stones arriving at the fair will exceed 1,000. Extracted from quarries and exhibited for the first time in the new season at Fuarizmir, various natural stones with unique colors and textures have already started attracting interest. Hundreds of block stones have been showcased even before the fair opens. Approximately 150 block stones arrive daily from all over Türkiye and are sold immediately upon arrival. In addition to block stones, hundreds of varieties of semi-processed and processed natural stones will be on display throughout the fair, highlighting Türkiye’s rich diversity of natural stones.

The National Power of Exports: Natural Stone

The natural stone sector closed 2021 with over $2 billion in total revenue. Compared to January and February of 2021, exports increased by 10.01% in the same period of 2022, reaching $306,424,769. Economic growth in processed marble exports rose by 30.27%, amounting to $132,430,574 in January and February 2022. With its abundant raw material reserves and locally produced machinery, the Turkish natural stone sector, which does not rely on imports, continues to add value to exports. The 27th Marble Izmir will showcase this strength. To contribute to the sector’s annual export target of $2.5 billion, strong visitor outreach programs have been conducted.

A "Buyer Delegation Program" is being organized in collaboration with four major export associations: Istanbul Mineral Exporters' Association (IMIB), Aegean Mineral Exporters' Association (EMIB), Denizli Exporters' Association (DENIB), and Western Mediterranean Exporters' Association (BAIB). The fair will facilitate a B2B business environment with nearly 500 visitors from 41 countries, including:

Germany, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Albania, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Algeria, Ethiopia, Palestine, South Africa, India, Iraq, Spain, Israel, Italy, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, Slovakia, Tunisia, Oman, Jordan, and Greece.

Young Talents Adding Art to Stone to Be Awarded

Encouraging value-added production, IZFAS places great emphasis on design in the natural stone industry. Bringing together the brightest minds in the sector, Marble Izmir features the 4th Unique Design Competition, where talented designers and innovative companies collaborate. Young designers participated with original projects utilizing natural stone. The top 17 designs out of 46 entries were brought to life with sponsorship from exhibiting companies.

The top three projects will be awarded the "Marble Most Unique Design Award" and a cash prize of 15,000 TL. The "Marble Collaboration Design Award" will be granted to two firms based on their cooperation during the production process. All realized projects will receive the "Marble Unique Design Award." The showcased designs, including an aquarium table, speaker, aromatherapy device, and writing board, will be exhibited in foyer A from March 30 to April 2, 2022.

The Importance of Natural Stone Use to Be Discussed by Experts

On March 31, 2022, two panel discussions featuring international natural stone experts will take place. The session titled "Natural Stone vs. Man-Made Materials: Exterior Applications" will be led by Stone Expert Daniel Wood from the Natural Stone Institute (USA), discussing the advantages of natural stone over artificial materials like ceramics.

The session "Different Uses of Marble in Design and Architecture" will be moderated by Ilker Kahraman, President of the Izmir Chamber of Architects. Speakers include Prof. Michal Stefanowski from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, Stone Expert Daniel Wood from the Natural Stone Institute, Feryel Chebeane from the Qatar Architects Center, and Iranian Architect Soheil Motevaselani Pour. These global experts will emphasize the significance and varied applications of natural stone at the 27th Marble Izmir.

Organized under the auspices of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Trade, hosted by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, and coordinated by IZFAS, the 27th Marble Izmir International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair is supported by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB), the Turkish Marble, Natural Stone, and Machinery Manufacturers Association (TUMMER), Istanbul Mineral Exporters' Association (IMIB), Aegean Mineral Exporters' Association (EMIB), Western Mediterranean Exporters' Association (BAIB), Denizli Exporters' Association (DENIB), Aegean Region Chamber of Industry (EBSO), and the Izmir Chamber of Commerce (IZTO).