Stone world’s 28th izmir meeting

Marble Izmir International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair opened its doors for the 28th time at Fair Izmir. The biggest global meeting of the natural stone industry took place at the Marble Izmir-International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair. Emphasizing the importance of the 28th Marble Izmir for both the country and the city, Mayor Tunc Soyer said, “Marble Izmir is the world’s largest natural stone fair and therefore the gateway of the natural stone industry to the world. Marble Izmir is a gift of our city to Turkey and world fairs.”

Marble Izmir International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair, hosted by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and organized by IZFAS, opened its doors for the 28th time at Fair Izmir. Mayor Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunc Soyer hosted the opening of the fair, Izmir Governor Yavuz Selim Kosger, CHP Deputy Chairman Ahmet Akın, CHP Deputy Chairman Yüksel Taskın, IYI Party Parliamentary Group Deputy Chairman Musavat Dervisoğlu, CHP Izmir Provincial President Senol Aslanoğlu, Izmir Chamber of Commerce Management Chairman of the Board Mahmut Ozgener, Chairman of the Aegean Region Chamber of Industry Ender Yorgancılar, Chairman of the Aegean Exporters’ Associations Coordinator Jak Eskinazi, Chairman of the Board of Istanbul Mineral Exporters Association, Chairman of the Turkish Exporters Assembly Mining Sector Rüstem C etinkaya, Chairman of the Board of Aegean Mine Exporters Association İbrahim Alimoğlu , Denizli Exporters Union Chairman of the Board Hüseyin Memisoğlu, IZFAS General Manager Canan Karaosmanoğlu Alıcı, provincial and district mayors, political party representatives attended.

Gate opening to the world

Saying at the opening ceremony that Marble Izmir is the world’s largest natural stone fair and the gateway to the natural stone industry to the world, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunc Soyer said, “Marble Izmir is a gift of our city to Turkey and world fairs. In this economic bottleneck we are going through, we have to increase our foreign trade volume and create added value that will increase the fertility of these lands. At this point, the natural stone industry responds to an important need. Our country has a very important position in the world natural stone reserve. Is it enough? Of course not. It is imperative that we process this raw material and transform it into products with high added value, thanks to the careful workmanship and skill of our workers in the sector. For this reason, we are doing everything we can to increase the value-added products in the natural stone sector at the Marble Izmir Fair.”

3 Important reasons

To determine the world trends in this important sector in which we are the number one in the world, to increase the welfare of our city and our country by directing the future of the natural stone sector, which grows more and more every year, by encouraging value-added products and nature-friendly production, and increasing exports. We know that it is possible to further strengthen our position in the natural stone sector with our products with high added value, whose share in exports is increasing every year. We just need to exploit this potential. With this awareness, we continue to bring the capabilities and products of all companies to the world at Marble Izmir.”

Virtual participation

Stating that the 28th Marble Izmir Fair, which hosts visitors from 54 countries from all over the world, will suit Izmir, the heart of the Mediterranean, Mayor Soyer said, “We are planning to host more than 100 thousand visitors at our fair this year. Marble Izmir will continue to have a say in the natural stone sector, to bring together all domestic and foreign sector representatives and to create a large trade volume this year. We have also commissioned the Marble Izmir mobile application for the first time at our fair, which will take place for the 28th time. Thus, participation in Marble Izmir from all over the world will be possible virtually.”

20 Thousand square meters

Continuing his words by stating that he would like applause from the participants, Mayor Tunc Soyer said, “The Turkish Marble, Natural Stone and Machinery Manufacturers Association Chairman Hanifi Simsek said that an additional 20 thousand square meters of fair area is needed. I am ready to make this promise. But in return, I want a word from you. I want to hear the power of this word with your applause. Rüstem Cetinkaya, Chairman of the Board of Istanbul Mineral Exporters’ Association and Chairman of the Mining Sector Board of the Turkish Exporters Assembly, talked about the target of 30 billion dollars. Jak Eskinazi, Chairman of the Board of Aegean Exporters’ Associations, talked about getting ahead of Italy. “Are you at the point of reaching this goal? We will do our part, 20 thousand square meters are ready for the year,” he said.

Kosger: The way will be paved

Izmir Governor Yavuz Selim Kosger said that the sector should be paved even more and said, “You will form the public opinion. You will tell the world figures to the public of the whole country. Whatever the industry needs, the way will be opened. The country will try to work better, especially in your field,” he said.

Continents meet

Fatih Dumanlı, Deputy General Manager of MAPEG, T.R. Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, said that Turkey is among the countries that have a say in natural stone reserves and is getting richer gradually. Mahmut Ozgener, Chairman of the Izmir Chamber of Commerce, said, “Marble Izmir has become an event that brings the continents together. When we look at both the indoor and outdoor areas of the fairground, we see that there is no empty space. Exports, which were 70 million dollars when it was first organized in 1995, have exceeded 2 billion dollars today”.

 Ender Yorgancılar, Chairman of the Board of the Aegean Region Chamber of Industry, said, “We continue on our way to become a world brand with natural stone and marble. The importance of fairs in overcoming the difficult economic period is clear.”

Aegean Exporters’ Unions Coordinator President Jak Eskinazi said, “I congratulate the natural stone exporters of Aegean from my heart. We are doing our best for exporters to become the leader in the world.” Rüstem Cetinkaya, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the İstanbul Mineral Exporters’ Association and Chairman of the Turkish Exporters Assembly Mining Sector Board, said, “It is very valuable to be in a city like Izmir, which has written its name in gold letters.”

İbrahim Alimoğlu, Chairman of the Board of the Aegean Mineral Exporters’ Association, said, “I would like to thank Tunc Soyer and all our employees for their efforts.”

Hüseyin Memisoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Denizli Exporters’ Association, said, “Everyone knows Denizli as a textile city, but we are working with other sectors for export.”

Hanifi Simsek, Chairman of the Turkish Marble, Natural Stone and Machinery Manufacturers Association, said, “I would like to thank my Mayor Soyer, who gave 20 percent discount to 30 of our companies in the earthquake zone.”

After the opening, Mayor Tunc Soyer and the accompanying delegation visited the participants and wished a successful fair.

Pioneer fair

Being a pioneer with the number of domestic and foreign visitors, Marble Izmir will contribute to the natural stone sector, which exceeded its export target of 2 billion dollars last year, to reach new targets. While all natural stone companies took place in the closed halls of Fair Izmir, a large part of the C hall and the entire D hall were allocated to machinery and technology companies. While the size of the block marble area was increased compared to last year, a temporary closed area was created for the processed natural stone exhibition area. Colored and various natural stones in blocks extracted from quarries all over Turkey, which has about 40 of the world’s natural stone reserves, are on display at the fairground. The fair is expected to be visited by nearly 100 thousand local and foreign people.

What did the participants say about MARBLE 2023

 

Metin Düzer (Mabella Marble Export Manager)

We have been attending the fair since 2018. We had a productive fair. Industry representatives from India, Russia, and the Middle East visited the fair this year. The fair appealed to the market sufficiently, but the participation from Europe as visitors needed to be higher. Due to the tight schedules of the fairs, there were few visitors from America. Due to the increase in travel costs, the visitors were always business-oriented. There were places where IZFASS was inadequate as an organization. For example, we requested a water connection from IZFASS, like many other companies, but they were indifferent and ineffective in meeting our demands.

 

Mahmut Sami Alparslan (Aycan Marble General Coordinator)

We have been participating in Izmir Marble Fair since the old fairground. The fair was sufficient in terms of foreign markets (countries) portfolio. This made the fair successful. There were especially Chinese sector representatives from the Far East. The fair was excellent and productive this year.

 

Esra Solak (Kemalpasa Marble Company partner/export and production manager)

We have been attending the fair for a long time. Our company’s first marble history dates back to 1996. At that time, we were operating as Somac Mining. We continue production both in our quarry and in our factory. We have a unique boutique stone. A stone from Balikesir Balya region works in many different selections. This year’s fair was better than last year’s. Surprisingly, there were as many customers from Russia as from other countries. We have exported before. We expected a decline due to the war, but on the contrary, it went well. The trend caught before the pandemic has been caught at the current fair. Due to the uniqueness of the stone we extracted, there was a higher demand than anticipated.

 

Hasan Burak Alimoğlu (Alimoğlu Marble- Granite Company Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors)

We have been participating in the Marble Fair for 26 years. This year, the Marble Izmir fair was satisfactory. It was fruitful in terms of block sales. 

 

Burak Aziz Nero (Picasso company sales and marketing director)

I have been in the marble industry for 15 years. The last ten years of this were spent in Picasso. I am an international relations specialist, and I did my master’s abroad. As a company, we have been participating in the fair since 2007. When we talk about the world, we now talk about a small village. That’s why we want to reach everyone who is in the marble market in the world. The biggest shortcoming at the fair was the need for a remarkable place for innovation. The presentation of the fair could have been done in a better way. By establishing a fair promotion committee with the sector, some calibrations (cooperation) can be made with other countries’ marketing and promotion and organization fairs. 

 

Metin Demir (Mesevle Marble)

We have been working in the industry for 13 years. We have been attending the fair for five years. The factory has had three active quarries until now. At the same time, we have two factories that are actively working. We produce around 400 thousand square meters per year, with an annual capacity of 50 thousand cubic meters for three quarries. As Aegean silver Muğla stone, which we are assertive, we serve as Turkish decision stone Muğla white with these stones. We continue to work on an export basis, with the sector’s future open. Izmir Fair is one of the few fairs in the world.

 

Bayram Ali Gedik (General manager (CEO, owner of 2b Stone)

We are an export company. We’ve been doing our job for about 10 years. We are having the best fair right now. Since we are a block producer, we have established connections with the countries we mainly work with, the block countries India, China, Egypt, Italy, Portugal, and England. We are pleased with the customers who come to buy block marble, and we also produce slabs. Plate demand was weak this year. Sector representatives were looking for slab marble from Russia and Saudi Arabia. It was very productive for the block. Izmir Marble Fair is one of our must-haves. That’s why we always consider participating. We will also continue with international fairs. The fair becomes a feast for the representatives of the sector. This gives us happiness.

 

Eda Bekisoğlu (Turan Bekisoğlu Marble Industry and Trade Inc)

 I am a member of the 3rd generation board of directors. I am very proud to work as a woman in the marble industry. As a company, I am a very old participant in the fair. We have been personally attending under the name Martura for two years. We used to participate in Turan Bekisoğlu. This year, the general foreign audience of the fair was good. We reached our desired audience with our stones and blocks and attracted attention.

 

Mustafa Kozak (Portsan Marble domestic sales and marketing manager)

I have been working with this company for 12 years, and we have been a participant since the fair was first established. The fair has reached a much better number of participants this year than the previous fairs, and the number of foreigners is much higher. This year, Marble Izmir Fair was a fair where final buyers were reached compared to other years. We would like to see more foreign participants in the future. Fairs are a place for companies to exhibit themselves. Therefore, companies have the opportunity to show their new product. We also revealed our Konya Stone, Karaman Grey stones.

 

Sabri Durdas(Cetin Madencilik Export Department)

I have been working for this company for nine years. We are one of the leading companies in the natural stone industry. We have our quarries and factories. We are a company that cares about investment. The owners of the company made a new investment. We have 75 thousand square meters of production and 65 thousand square meters of exports. Our block sale continues. We met with our customers again at the Izmir fair. There were people, especially from the Indian and Chinese markets. We have been participating in the Izmir fair for 6-7 years. We would like to see customers from America as well. Mainly Middle Eastern countries participate in this fair and come from Europe. The Izmir Fair is in the top 3 in world literature. But it could have been better in terms of Advertising and marketing.

 

Fatih Damgacı (MCD Mining General Manager)

We have a gray quarry in the Karabük Eflâni region. Here we have many different selections. We export them mainly. As an industry, we have a good market with China and India. Taiwan, Egypt, are our alternative markets. We have never focused on a single market. We have always thought of spreading our product to different markets. We did this, albeit for a short time.

 

Tufan Akyurek (Oner Natural Stone Company)

We are a Kayseri company. We work on basalt. We have basalt varieties. The factory and the quarry belong to us. Since 2013, we have been dealing with the basalt business. We have been working with our new quarry for the last five years. We have been participating in the Izmir fair for six years. This year, the foreign participant portfolio needed to be expanded.

 

Ahmet Ozpınar (Milestone LLC Türkiye Manager)

I was born in the marble industry in Afyonkarahisar and grew up swallowing marble dust. I am the Turkey director of my company, and as a company, we have achieved great success for more than 20 years, as Milestone LLC, our adventure started by importing Turkish natural stone to the United States. We have four large warehouses in Florida, USA, and we are investing in a large warehouse in Afyonkarahisar. Apart from supplying our warehouses in America, we also deliver to European and Middle Eastern countries and make sales. Since we can appeal to many markets with our project in Afyonkarahisar, which we entered to expand our market and increase our product portfolio, we also participate in fairs. We also made our company participate in the Izmir fair. We have contributed to show participation from countries other than Turkey. Since we are an American-based company, this fair in our country has become something other than a local one, especially recently. We can increase our fair prestige by ensuring the participation of more foreign companies abroad. As a company, our aim and work in this direction has always been to protect and increase the value of our sector and Turkish natural stone, and it will continue to be the same from now on.

 

Mustafa Akca Senler (Marble Sales and Marketing Manager)

 I am responsible for buying and selling blocks and slabs of Senler marble. We have been participating in the fair as Senler Marble since 2000. There were buyers from Italy, Europe, China, and America. We had a better fair this year than last year.

 

Gazanfer Yoncalık (Ermas Marble Export Manager)

We participate in various fairs, domestically and abroad. Our company produces both marble and quartz. We have 600 employees, including three marble factories and one quartz factory. We also have quarries. We are one of the few companies in Turkey in the marble sector. We have been attending Izmir Marble Fair for 23 years. Izmir Fair is one of the first three fairs in the world. As Ermas Marble, we had a successful fair.

 

Yasin Carık (Export Manager Artmar Marble)

We have been participating in the Izmir marble fair, which was held for the 28th time this year, for 27 years. We hosted our guests mainly from India, the Middle East, and Gulf countries at our stand. The fair has enough international visitor portfolios. There were visitors from almost every country in the world. We had the opportunity to catch good connections at the fair. There will likely be returns in the short term. Everything was fine at the fair. I want to thank everyone who contributed.