The 2011 Xiamen International Stone Fair in Fujian Provence, China is again attracting record numbers of both exhibitors and attendees.

This year's show began on Sunday, March 6th and concluded March 9th. While the official attendance numbers were not available at the time of this writing, it is clear that this year is bigger than last in both categories. Fair organizers are anticipating more than 130,000 visitors from more than 135 countries.

For 2010, the show attracted 101,500 attendees from 45 countries and exhibit space was more than 100,000 square meters (1,076,391 square feet). This year is set to eclipse these figures. According to show organizers, the Xiamen Stone Fair is one of the largest of all industry trade shows in Asia.

This year's show is expecting more than 1,370 exhibitors from more than 135 countries to fill every available space on the show grounds. Temporary tents and buildings have been erected to accommodate the additional exhibitors seeking to cater to the diverse attendee mix. In addition to attendees from Asia, there is an influx of attendees from northern and central Europe as well as from North and South America.

Virtually every segment of the stone industry is being represented at this year's Stone Fair including Slab and Tile producers of both domestic and imported materials, equipment manufacturers of gang saws and bridge saws, to hand finishing and polishing tools. Excavation equipment from block loaders, drilling rigs, quarry wire saws and multi-wire slab saws fill the equipment pavilion and spill outside to make room for the large equipment.

Comparing my experience from last year, it seems that the estimated attendance numbers are conservative. The push of the crowds is noticeably larger this year, and there is a noticeable level of excitement that the economy is rebounding. From the opening moments of the show, booths were filled with not just curious observers but orders were being executed on day one.

Many vendors were featuring new materials although from my perspective, some of these new colors were variations on familiar commodities. New granite colors like Giallo Farfalla from Liyuan Stone is very similar to Giallo Napoleon. China now offers more than 10 Quartz producers even though none are produced on the Breton line.

Another noticeable feature was the use of more textures, finishes and carved elements in both tiles and slabs. Many of these finishes are done by hand by lower cost Chinese workers making it much more affordable to offer exciting new finishes and textures to American consumers. The question remains, what will be the extent of distribution by American-based importers. This segment of the industry seems to offer the most attractive new design elements in this year's fair.

Scores of Chinese equipment manufacturers are producing bridge saws, polishing lines and even Chinese gang saws at a fraction of the price of Italian machines. Of course the questions of quality, reliability and available U.S. service remain to be a concern.

The segment that seems to offer the most reasonable chance of success in the United States are the fork truck manufacturers in China. Brands like Linde and XGMA are made in China but are manufactured to international quality standards. It won't be long until new Chinese brands sit next to familiar Japanese fork trucks in American showrooms.

At the conclusion of the show I asked for feedback from one of the fair organizers, and she indicated that the organizing staff was very pleased with the turnout of exhibitors and attendees. The weather also cooperated to provide a very pleasant environment for foreign guests as well as numerous Chinese nationals who attended.

It seems that there is little doubt that the Xiamen International Stone Fair will very soon rival Marmomacc in Verona.

Following a meeting with one of our suppliers tonight, I was reminded of another interesting issue comparing the Chinese market and US market. For marble & travertine, the Chinese standard thickness is 1.6-1.7cm.

Above: The fair complex is 3 main permanent buildings and about 6 or 7 temporary buildings. Torin Dixon stands outside the fair entrance.

Top Right: A panel being prepared to go into a temple grounds project. The rough carving elements are often performed by men, and the finishing and polishing is almost always done by women. They do a better job of polishing.

Center: Entrance to the 2011 Xiamen International Stone Fair.

Inset: A granite column being made for a temple complex. The dragon motif is typical of Buddhist Temple architecture or in civic park projects.

Above and inset: All the carvings and textures are done by hand with 4 diamond blades on grinders and hand polished. The circular patterns are just non-segmented Makita blades scratching the polished finish to create designs. These are very artistic patterns done by ordinary factory personnel.

This allows them the ability to get more slabs per block and higher yields. This thickness would be a problem for most American fabricators because Americans prefer a thick looking edge 1-1/2 minimum, thus standard 3/4 slabs with laminated edges. If American fabricators would/could utilize mitered edges more and use the 1.6cm thickness they could save about 10% of the cost of most marble and travertine. The quality is surprisingly very good for these thicknesses.

Also, more factories are offering 0.7 to 1.0 cm granite slabs for use in tub surrounds and other uses with sizes as large as 36 x 96 available using step sawing techniques.

Lastly, China still offers one of the finest global sources of quality statue and carving of stone materials in nearby Hui'an. This city also called "Statue Town" houses literally hundreds of small and very large stone carving studios and factories producing virtually anything made in granite, including a Formula1 and Hummer carved from granite blocks, to classical sculptures. The quality rivals that of Italian studios, but of course the Italians would not likely agree.

Torin Dixon is owner and director of Montana Stone Gallery, an importer and distributor of stone slabs in Missoula, Montana. He can be contacted by sending an email to tdixon@montanastonegallery.com

")