Stones of the World: Brazil’s Seductive Exotics
Peter J. Marcucci
Special Contributor
You know you’re spellbound as the feet stand firm, the eyes devour, and the hands trace the sinuous, breathtaking swirls of the exotic slab that stands before you.
It’s the exotics such as Carnival and Mascarello, bursting with mind-teasing collages of colors, that inspire our imagination—and the retina dazzling quartzites like Gold Macaubas, Evolution, and Fusion that offer torrents of color and inspire one-of-a-kind designs to embellish the finest upscale creature comforts on the planet.
As magnificent as these hypnotic swirls and bursts are, most seem to have one thing in common: they are of Brazilian origin. As a fabricator of 26 years, I cannot begin to tell you how many times I stood mesmerized while viewing these seductive granites and quartzites when arriving at our shop.
In the olden days the choices were simple. If you wanted a countertop with movement and character and were willing to deal with the fragile nature of a soft stone, you chose marble or one of harder serpentines. And if you wanted a stone countertop built to last with minimum maintenance, you chose one of the many homogeneous granites of that time.
In their day, these granites were the only choice for durability and set the standard for that one-of-a-kind kitchen, wet bar, or vanity used on a daily basis. Homogeneous granites were, and still are, a great combination of beauty and durability for the family on the go or the busy commercial application.
But during the mid 1990s, the popularity of these granites began to change. Brazilian quarriers were busy unearthing new deposits of very durable stone that possessed all the beauty of marble with none of the maintenance.
During this time, designers wanting more options began asking for these new stones, and fabrication shops wanting a higher bottom line began stocking or importing them. As selections grew, clients were quick to accept these brilliant and durable new materials for their homes, and as salesmen offered their pen to their elated clients, the contract was easily inked.
Certainly noteworthy at this time was the fact that no one was saying goodbye to homogeneous granites of the prior decades. However, it was time to say, “Hello, new exotics!” Enter the Golden Age of Brazilian export.
Remarkably, while all of Brazil’s 27 states quarry marble, granite, slate or quartzite, it’s the stone-rich state of Espirito Santo, Brazil that seems to be the most recognized for the materials we’ve learned to love.
This small coastline state not only possesses much of the finest stone in the country, Espirito Santo also has the strategic advantage of easy container exporting to the world via the shipping ports of Vitoria and Tubarao, which lie along the South Atlantic Ocean. Espirito Santo’s neighboring states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Bahia also conveniently reside within the proximity of these ports.
As a plus, the well-known Vitoria-Minas Railway is also a viable shipping option for the many containers bound for the North American markets. Truly, Brazil’s rail and ship exchanges, in relation to the locations of its many quarries and manufacturers, were the main factors for its future position as an export world leader in the coming new millennium.
It was well into this millennium and notably at this point that Brazil’s prior decade of bold marketing and sales strategies within the U.S. had finally paid off, yielding $267 million in overall stone exports by 2004, and remarkably just one year later, becoming the “world’s largest exporter” to the U.S.
Quick to follow this outstanding growth curve, these exports to the U.S. peaked in 2007 to a sales high of over $550 million, up over double from just three years before. Clearly, Brazil’s aggressive expansion strategies of the prior decade had now been fully realized—at least for a while.
By 2009, the Brazilian export economy that had seen great success was now seeing a teetering American economy rendered paralyzed as bank after bank collapsed into the arms of the government. The robust and lucrative sales of the new millennium now lay weak and anemic in the wake of a faltering global economy as sales fell to pre-2004 levels, and those aggressive marketing efforts of the decade before had now been rendered ineffective.
This turn of events was tough on the quarriers and manufacturers who had jumped into the game with both hands and feet by opening up new sources of stone, as well as invested in machines that produced finished materials quicker and safer.
A Renaissance of Beauty and Method
Fortunately, since 2009, production volume has rebounded, and why shouldn’t it? Brazil, which abounds with new, highly-efficient quarries mainly of open architecture, was still producing not only exquisite quartzites, but also premium, standard and commercial grade stone of all varieties.
New and also older large-scale producers in Espirito Santo such as Decolores, Tracomal, and Vitoria Stone, that had invested heavily in state-of-the-art production technology, still had high expectations, and now stood firm and ready for the future.
So, is Brazil again poised to be America’s top foreign source of stone, you ask? Well, to be honest, Brazil’s reign as top supplier to America never ended – it only slowed! Due to new marketing strategies and new materials being introduced, Brazil, just last year, exported over 500 thousand tons of cut and finished granite to the U.S., totaling a whopping 476 million in gross U.S. sales for 2012.
It’s these kind of numbers that have many experts now raising the bar of expectations to the tune of $500 million in projected sales for 2013. So it’s no wonder that many optimistic producers in Europe have thrown their hat into the mix by investing heavily in Brazilian stone production.
By the time you read this story, the Vitoria 2013 Stone Fair in Espirito Santo, Brazil will be history, and by all indications it promises to be a huge success. The old saying, “So goes Brazilian exports to America — so goes American fabrication,” still applies, and in my opinion, any rise in American imports marks the beginning of a chain of events in our market.
Brazil’s aggressive price points combined with the outstanding new colors constantly being unveiled, will help to drive this chain of events. Clearly, stone wearing the Brazilian label is here to stay. It’s also clear that it’s time for all of us to think about new tools and machines for the future.
But don’t take my opinion for what “might” be on the horizon. Talk to someone who attended the Vitoria 2013 Stone Fair for what “is” on the horizon and the state-of-our-art. Then ask yourself — “Am I ready?”
Peter J. Marcucci has over 25 years of fabrication experience in the stone industry. Send your comments to our Contacts page on the SRG website.