Brazil is a major player in the ornamental stone sector, with the fifth largest production and fifth position in the export ranking for marble, granite and quartzite used in architecture and interior design. In the country, Cachoeiro de Itaperimim stands out, a city 140 kilometers from Vitória (ES), home to the largest companies in the segment and a hub for the machinery used to extract the products. To achieve this position of prominence on the world stage, mining companies rely on the solutions offered by Superia, a company specializing in foreign trade with almost 20 years of experience.
With a commitment to presenting the best cost and feasibility solutions and providing the most attractive logistical and financial scenario for foreign trade operations, Superia has helped mining companies import machinery (new and used), diamond wire and resins (polymers), inputs that are widely used in the daily process of extracting blocks of natural stone from natural quarries and then transforming them into slabs that are exported abroad.
“Domestic companies have developed equipment, but 80% of the machinery is still imported from countries like Germany and Italy because they offer mining companies greater agility (timing) to transform the raw material into slabs,” explains Superia trader Gedeon Santos, who serves the segment at Superia’s office in Vitória (ES). In addition to European countries, mining companies also turn to the Asian market (China) to import block cutting machines, says the trader.
Superia also works to help companies import used machinery, as long as there is no similar domestic equipment. “As well as being possible, it has been very advantageous and several of our partners have adopted this logistics, through the Vila Velha Port Terminal,” he says. The import of artificial slabs and also ultra-compact slabs (material with greater strength and durability) is another demand that has increased a lot with mining companies. “This market has grown a lot in the last four to five years. China is the main supplier, especially of nanoglass, a synthetic coating much in demand by architects for use on stairs and countertops,” says Gedeon.
With a team of specialists in international trade, Superia is an import partner for mining companies, working in a variety of ways: on behalf of third parties, buying and selling to order, or through its own operations. “We offer the importer peace of mind in the operation, from reducing costs, through the import strategy, or coordinating the entire process, from contacting the supplier to customs clearance, in the processes of classifying and describing the cargo, suggesting the best modality, with the lowest costs on the market and with optimum logistical efficiency. What we do is to be very transparent with the client,” summarizes Guilherme Quintaes, SUPERIA’s commercial director.
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– IMPORT BY ACCOUNT AND ORDER – This is the method in which a company provides the financial resources and hires Superia to carry out all the import procedures. Both companies appear in the Federal Revenue Service records and the contracting company must have the financial capacity on its radar to carry out the operation. In this modality, Superia acts actively in all stages of the import, allowing the contracting company to focus on its core business while relying on our intelligent and economical solutions in logistics, exchange, taxes, licenses, customs clearance and post-nationalization storage. Superia has specialized partners in each area of activity and differentiated rates with ports, freight forwarders and carriers, due to the volume handled.
– IMPORT BY ORDER – This is the method in which the company hires Superia to buy a product abroad and resell it exclusively to the company, which then nationalizes the product, thus placing an import order. In this modality it is possible to work with tax reductions and obtain differentiated payment conditions and nationalization in various ports in Brazil.
– ASSESSMENT IN FOREIGN TRADE – Superia offers commercial, fiscal, administrative, financial, operational and logistical solutions from planning, feasibility analysis and negotiation with suppliers and clients to the delivery of goods to their final destination.
– INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS – Superia has the expertise to increase the radar limit, obtain tax benefits, close exchange deals with differentiated market rates and spreads, among other facilities.
INTERNATIONAL STONE SEGMENT
– Brazil is the country with the greatest geological diversity and more than 1,200 materials. This industry is made up of more than 12,000 companies that generate 480,000 direct and indirect jobs. Brazilian materials can be classified commercially as marble, granite and quartzite.
– Exported to the five continents, they are incorporated into international architecture and interior design in a variety of ways: semi-finished processed stone (slabs) and, above all, finished stone are used in rooms such as the kitchen, bathroom and serialized/cut-to-size products, flooring, furniture and decorative work for rooms.
– Today, Brazilian stone is used to embellish luxurious buildings such as the Unicredit Tower in Milan, Abu Dhabi International Airport in Dubai, Istanbul Airport in Turkey and the luxurious Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, among others.
– Brazil is the main supplier of slabs to the USA, surpassing China, Italy, India, Turkey, Spain, Greece and other strong international competitors, according to data from the Brazilian Association of the Ornamental Stone Industry (ABIROCHA). Espírito Santo is responsible for 80% of these exports, and the city of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim is hosting Stone Fair from August 23 to 26, one of the sector’s main fairs.
