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Home > CANADA > Business events in Italy
ITALIAN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS ON SHOW AT PROJECT LEBANON
Rome (Ign) - Marble, glass and ceramics will be the main sectors taking centre stage at Project Lebanon 2007 in Beirut. (http://www.
ifpexpo.com/show_
overview.asp?id=37). But the entire Italian sector of construction materials, the backbone of the building industry, will also be on show between 27 February and 3 March in Beirut. Project Lebanon is in fact the most important event in the sector in the Middle East for professionals in the trade and is being hosted in the prestigious Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center. It will be an opportunity for professionals in the area to meet their international colleagues, and will provide a direct link with the Lebanese authorities and those of neighbouring countries. The showcase is fundamental for those who are targeting the Middle East, which increasingly in recent years is proving to be the most attractive market together with Asia. And it is for this reason that the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) is organising a collective delegation of the Italy System which will give a boost to Italian excellence under the skies of Beirut .
Moreover, the sector in Italy is growing also thanks to the wide range of companies comprising it. A case in point is the marble-stone subsector, which in the period between January and April 2006 generated €560m in exports, in other words 1,440,000 tonnes of stone, both rough and worked, sold abroad. The exports are aimed above all at North America (particularly the United States, with over 140,000 tonnes, accounting for almost €170m) and the European Union. But there are interesting signs for the future: the Far East in fact has seen a significant rise in purchases, thanks above all to trade with China which is set to become a fundamental trade partner for Italian companies in this sector.
The sector of ceramic tiles is also extremely successful in exports, so much so that most of the production districts have a turnover based mainly on sales abroad. The most famous is the ceramics district of Sassuolo, a specialised area which represents the nerve centre of the Italian ceramics industry, alone accounting for 80% of the national production of tiles and 25% of the world's. Of the €4.3bn of turnover in 2005 (Assopiastrelle figures), 60% came from exports, mainly directed towards the EU, the United States and Eastern Europe. The success of the ceramics district of Modena and Reggio Emilia, meanwhile, is based on the great versatility and integration of the production system, which brings together engineering industries producing ceramics manufacturing plants, road haulage companies and the producers themselves. This type of system has made it possible for the district to see induced activity increase constantly in recent years.
The cement industry distinguishes itself in turn in various ways, such as the capillary distribution over the country of production facilities, making it possible to keep down transport costs. Nor should we forget the extremely high level of technology, which guarantees product quality higher than legal standards. Lastly, there is distribution, with a wide range of different types of company, with major multinationals operating alongside medium-sized companies on a national scale and small firms working in geographically circumscribed markets.
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