Industry consensus: building a global alliance
Flavio Marabelli, president of the Italian Stone Machinery Association, said: "Maybe we have not thought about creating a world joint organization when the economy is still not so depressed, but now it seems necessary. Because at this time, all around The fields and products in the construction industry are in crisis, and all the competitors in the stone industry are looking for ways to get out of the woods – they want to be substitutes for stone, such as ceramics and concrete. The irregular behavior between competitors will The situation is further complicated, and the only way out is to unite."
R. Veeramani, president of the CAPEXIL Granite and Natural Stone Chamber of Commerce in India, pointed out that many products, such as steel, oil, coal, textiles, computers, etc., generally have international institutions to help them publicize. These international organizations generally promote commercial sales by regularly conducting seminars, publishing commemorative albums, or advertising through various media. It is a pity that although stone is a natural product that has appeared very early, there is still no global organization to promote it, thus forming a correct understanding.
Wang Yuewei, a consultant of the Japan Stone Industry Association, said that in order to truly achieve global cooperation with the industry to overcome the current crisis, first of all countries must establish a stone industry association that can represent the country. The association where Wang Yuewei is located is the largest association in Japan consisting of quarrying, processing, tombstone retailing, wholesale, construction, machinery and tools, and trading companies. However, he believes that the number of companies currently participating is still far from enough. .
Xu Rongqi, president of the Fujian Stone Industry Association and the Xiamen Stone Chamber of Commerce, said that in the future, stone trading will go to selling culture, selling knowledge and selling ideas. All countries in the world should strengthen cooperation, because no one can be the boss forever, and cooperation can expand the living space and market space.
Xu Rongqi believes that there are three ways to cooperate: first, resource sharing, cooperation among enterprises in various countries through agency, equity distribution, etc., or cooperation on resources and services; second, market collaboration, such as Chinese products in Italy, by Italian companies Marketing promotion; third, technical exchanges, exchanges in technology, equipment research and development, technology and intellectual property.
Experts said that the global stone industry should strengthen the cooperation of stone resources mining and processing technology. Because each region of the world has its own unique stone resources, their own unique technologies and techniques, and their own unique national traditional stone culture. These resources and technical processes, the essence of these unique stone cultures, should be more collaborative and exchanged, learn from each other and improve together, and strive to promote better use of stone resources by human beings, and give full play to the value of stone.
Domestic sales exploration: playing brand building flagship store
At the Xiamen International Stone Fair, the reporter saw a blue ribbon hovering in the booth. It is said that this is the most precious color in marble. The average marble is only two or three hundred yuan per square meter. 3000 yuan to 8,000 yuan. In this regard, the company affiliated with the product said that in the future, the stone market will be further subdivided. Their strategy is to take a high-end route in the international market, and strive to catch up with Spain, Italy and other stone powers, and at the same time, to personalize and art in product research and development. The brand line.
Zou Chuansheng, president of China Stone Industry Association, believes that enterprises should jump out of the original marketing model and improve their marketing level to be close to the market. “The stone market is currently on the edge of the city and cannot meet directly with consumers. To overcome the problem of marginalization of the market, enterprises must be close to consumers, like ceramics, to build flagship stores in the downtown area, marketing must Branding, companies must carry out brand management," he said.
Export adjustment: exploring emerging markets
The development of the global stone industry has been affected by the financial turmoil. At present, the European and American markets have entered a state of shrinking demand. It is difficult for companies to expand their market in the export market. Therefore, export-oriented stone enterprises are eyeing emerging markets, such as the Middle East. South America, ASEAN, and Russia. These market demand is relatively strong.
Zou Chuansheng, president of the China Stone Industry Association, suggested that in addition to continuing to focus on traditional markets such as Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea, Chinese stone companies must vigorously explore emerging markets, such as some oil exporting countries.
Experience for reference: dig deep into the World Expo business opportunities
According to informed sources, since 2002, the demand for high-grade stone in Shanghai's infrastructure and key projects has been rising, and some high-end stone has formed a demand gap, and stone imports have increased substantially. In the first five years, the scale of the Shanghai stone market increased by 15%-20% annually. In the year when the World Expo was successfully launched, the consumption of stone materials in Shanghai exceeded 20 million square meters, with a total value of about 6 billion yuan. “The 2010 Shanghai World Expo will bring tens of billions of dollars to the stone industry,†the source said.
It is said that many stone factories in Quanzhou, such as Xi'an, have already made a good start, and they have received orders for the Shanghai World Expo.
In addition, the reporter learned that Wan Lishi was the first private enterprise in Xiamen to aim at the reconstruction business opportunities in Sichuan after the disaster. The company has invested heavily in building a project for post-disaster reconstruction in Sichuan.
According to industry insiders, the pace of China's large-scale population transfer from rural to urban areas is still accelerating, and with the follow-up effect of the construction boom launched by the country's 4 trillion investment, the demand for stone in the next two years is not limited.
Stone industry wants to find new market mark
From the 6th China (Xiamen) International Stone Fair held from March 6th to 9th, the presidents and seniors of stone associations from Italy, Turkey, Spain, Brazil, Egypt, Finland, Switzerland, Iran, China and other countries and regions People gathered to analyze the development of the stone industry and proposed to establish a global organization to promote the overall development of the industry. Domestic stone people and experts also put forward their own suggestions and opinions on the specific measures to promote the growth of stone sales.