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21 July 2022

ARCHISTONE will contribute to boosting the great potential of the natural stone industry

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ARCHISTONE will be held within the framework of CONSTRUTEC, from the 15th to the 18th of September, at the Recinto Ferial de IFEMA MADRID, under the umbrella of ePower&Building

The Natural Stone Cluster will organise various talks at the International Stone Architecture Fair, analysing issues such as the circular economy, new technologies, digitalisation, sustainability, employability and renovation. The natural stone sector is of great importance for some regions of Spain. In 2021, our country was the seventh largest producer and the sixth largest exporter in the world, and the largest producer of roofing slate.

The International Stone Architecture Fair, ARCHISTONE, will contribute to boosting the enormous potential of the natural stone industry, a sector of great importance for some regions of Spain. Indeed, in 2021, our country was the seventh largest producer and the sixth largest exporter in the world, as well as the leading producer of roofing slate. Within the framework of the Fair, the Natural Stone Cluster will organise talks which will analyse issues such as the circular economy, new technologies, digitalisation, employability and renovation. ARCHISTONE will be held within the framework of CONSTRUTEC, from the 15th to the 18th of November, at the Recinto Ferial de IFEMA MADRID, under the umbrella of ePower&Building.

The natural stone sector is of great importance for the producing regions, acting as an economic engine of regions such as Valencia, Murcia, Galicia and Castile-Leon, among others, At the national level, natural stone is a traditional, mature economic sector which is currently undergoing a phase of transformation due to the change in the international economic panorama. The increase in competition from new countries, as well as the appearance of new, highly-competitive products, has led the Spanish natural stone sector to change its strategy for growth in recent years, based on differentiation through strong investment in internationalisation and R&D&I, seeking to place itself in a leadership position in both the extraction and production process and the subsequent commercialisation and marketing of the product.

In 2021, Spain was the seventh largest producer and the sixth largest exporter of natural stone in the world, and the leading producer of roofing slate. The data show that 28% of this country's natural stone exports were in the form of raw materials, to the value of 256 million euros, the other 72% being finished products, to the sum of 659 million euros.

Despite the global pandemic and the uncertainty unleashed by it, the natural stone sector has demonstrated a certain improvement compared to 2020, increasing exports by 12% in 2021.

Talks at Archistone

The Natural Stone Cluster, the national grouping of the natural stone extraction, production and auxiliary industries, will organise various talks at Archistone which will analyse the most burning issues in the sector, including the incorporation of circular economy strategies into the natural stone industry through new BIM technologies, the new generation of reused materials in the natural stone sector, the effects of digitalisation, the sustainability and employability of the natural stone sector, and digitalisation in the renovation of historic buildings in natural stone.