The russian event is one of the top five construction exhibitions in the world

April and may have been marked down in the dia­ries of the top Spanish ceramics manufacturers in the sector be­cause more a hundred companies from the sector have travelled to Mosbuild in Russia and to Cove­rings in Atlanta to continue their rise in the sector and to show the catalogue of products that they offer in both places and keep mo­ving up in the sector.

With respect to the russian event, the tiling sector has suc­cessfully participated in the Offi­cial Spanish Pavillion organised by ICEX in the Moscow construction materials fair. The ‘Tile of Spain’ took part in both contests with 60 and 44 exhibitors.

PRINCIPAL CONSTRUCTION FAIR

Every year since 1997, ‘Tile of Spain’ has been present in Mos­build, the principal construction fair in the Russian Federation and is a mandatory reference point for professionals in the sector in the country as well as the ex-Soviet republics. According to figures provided by the fair, the contest registered over 104,000 visitors in 2012 and had 2,472 exhibiting companies from 49 countries.

A GREAT SUCCESS

Of the various successful acti­vities organised by ‘Tile of Spain’, a highlight was the presentation of the winner of the second architec­tural competition ‘Tile Story’ for the design of the Mosbuild Spanish Pavillion. The competition consis­ted of designing the ICEX-ASCER information stand for the Official Tile of Spain Pavillion at Mosbuild 2013. All of the participants had to combine innovative design with functionality while using ceramics featuring the contest’s brand. The first place went to renowned Russian designer, Denis Avanesov, whose de­sign could be seen at Mosbuild this year.

In addition to this, the fair held seminars aimed at subscriptions, a publicity campaign and advertorials in specialist decoration and archi­tecture magazines, amongst other activities. The Russian Federation is currently one of the largest impor­ters of ceramics in the world and is third-largest destination of Spanish ceramics. Sales to this country in 2012 reached 161 million euros, a 27% increase on 2011. This was the third consecutive year of growth, as the figure had grown around 20% compared to the previous year. The Spanish sector is also the main fo­reign supplier of ceramic paving and covering to Russia with a market sha­re of 30%.

ATLANTA: ‘PILOT’ CONTEST

In contrast to this, one of the great unknowns this year was the event in Coverings as it was the first time it took place in the capital of Georgia. This extremely positive ex­perience, which attracted the atten­tion of over 40 Spanish companies, was held between the 29th of April and the 1st of May and was atten­ded by many visitors who could see first-hand the new offers from the various companies from a wide ran­ge of countries which attended the event