Although Coverings 2005 has reached an increase of 10 percent in attendees from the 2004 show, Brazilian companies have more than doubled this number in terms of business. For some companies, figures were the most impressive in the last ten years, states Renato Casagrande, CEO of Ceramica Casagrande: "We had made business of US $850,000 during the show pointing a great success to our Amalfi and Marine lines."
The Brazilian pavilion of 1,993 square meters received 8,500 attendees in its 30 booths. Final figures at the show were US $22 million with 5.5 million square meters of ceramic tile sold. Some companies were present in meeting rooms and also making business at Anfacer's booth.
Pisoforte Ceramic Tiles has received the Coverings prize "Best in Show" for its booth in the category for booths up to 50 square meters. Ubirajara Mattos, Export Manager of the company said business increased 20 percent from last year.
Some companies increased their business even more, up to 28 percent, stated João Adriano Ribeiro, CEO of Incefra: "Coverings is just the one show for us and we are here for making business; this year we sold about US $1 million."
These figures show why Brazil has achieved the second place in US imports, in square meters, just after Italy in 2004.
Anfacer trends point out a 12.5 percent increase in the exports of Brazilian ceramic tile in 2005, reaching US $ 417 million with 141.6 million square meters, with 68 companies exporting their products worldwide. In the past 5 years just 18 companies exported. According to Adriano Lima, CEO of Anfacer, these figures reflect the quality and development of the Brazilian ceramic tile industry.
"Our products are equal to any product worldwide and we will be very aggressive to build the Brazilian brand," states Lima and adds: "Our international fair ‘Revestir' will go far more in 2006 including the ‘Kitchen and Bath Show' in the same place, in order to offer a consistent variety for the attendees worldwide."
