Stone+tec Nürnberg 2015

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The Exhibition Centre Nuremberg is once again the meeting place for the international natural stone industry for four days from 13–16 May 2015, when Stone+tec Nürnberg presents the whole variety of natural stone and shows everything necessary for professionally processing this material. The honorary sponsors of the trade fair are the Deutscher Naturwerksteinverband (German Natural Stone Association) and the Bundesverband Deutscher Steinmetze (Association of German Stonemasons), which assess the situation in the industry in the run-up to the event and provide an outlook on Stone+tec 2015 in the following interview.

1. What issues concern the natural stone industry and the German stonemasons at the moment?
Sybille Trawinski, General Manager Bundesverband Deutscher Steinmetze: The stonemasonry trade currently faces many challenges. For example, securing skilled staff and trainees and optimizing the firms are very important issues. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable applicants for vacant jobs or apprenticeships and the number of trainees gets less every year. The industry has changed markedly in the past years in areas such as cemetery and burial culture, where turnover for stonemasons is declining noticeably. The trade must develop alternative strategies for their products, open up new markets and stand out more clearly from the – often cheaper – competition. It is a matter of positioning and also showing more public presence, as the varied skills and products of the stonemasonry trade are not sufficiently known.
Reiner Krug, General Manager Deutscher Naturwerksteinverband e.V.: The demand for local natural stone is rising constantly – also with regard to environmental aspects and social responsibility in natural stone production. The price decay of natural stone products due to cheaper imported stone is still problematic, however. It is in the interest of all users of natural stone that the German production with its high quality requirements is maintained and not only standard merchandise offered.

2. How do you assess the present situation in the German and international natural stone market?
Sybille Trawinski: The order books of the German stonemasons are generally good, but there are problems in individual segments. This is the case in the gravestone sector, as the burial customs of many people are changing distinctly. In the historic preservation segment, we meanwhile see a real investment backlog due to the lack of public funds. In the building sector, especially among private clients, there is still a lot of potential for stonemasonry firms, which they should exploit. The firms must get fit for competition; they must show the way with high-quality and individual products and convince with their sound professional knowledge and modern technology. Not least, they must position themselves against external trades that are increasingly penetrating into the market segment for natural stone.
Reiner Krug: The situation in the German natural stone market is good due to the positive situation in the building sector. Thanks to low interest rates, many investors and building clients are investing in property with high-quality facilities or in the design of gardens, which also uses natural stone. Foreign markets are still very difficult because of the impacts of the financial crisis.

3. What are the specific challenges for the future?
Sybille Trawinski: The problems already mentioned must be tackled actively. For example, alternative design concepts must be developed for cemetery planning. Many firms must extend their spectrum of services and pay more attention to customers' individual wishes. The possibilities for standing out from the competition with cheap mass-produced goods must be clearly formulated. Stonemasons should therefore certainly take advantage of further training opportunities! Exhibitions and trade fairs are also a good platform for obtaining information and inspiration for one's own work. Here the stonemason also has the opportunity to present his craft skills and promote his own firm and the stonemason's profession.
Reiner Krug: Maintaining the high technical standard and the quality of natural stone work is not cheap. It must still be possible to achieve decent and adequate prices for high-quality natural stone work and memorials. The real natural stone must increasingly compete against innumerable artificial products like ceramic or cast stone, which imitate the outstanding properties and appearance of natural stone. Major advances have been achieved in production technology over the past decades. These developments, such as the production of new finishes, must be continued.

4. What trends are currently emerging?
Sybille Trawinski: The interest in local and European natural stone is growing mainly among those groups of customers who also look for sustainable regional production in other areas of life. The 50-plus generation is currently a particularly high turnover segment among private clients: they would like to stay in their own four walls and familiar surroundings as long as possible. Houses and flats are therefore suitably modernized and adapted for use by the elderly – to individual and high-quality designs. This is a major future market for stonemasons.
Rear-ventilated natural stone facades are also gaining in importance. The formerly so popular facades with composite thermal insulation systems are meanwhile the subject of public criticism due to rapid soiling and various problems with building physics.
Reiner Krug: Sediment stones like limestones and sandstones are still very much in demand in architecture. The trend is towards heavily structured finishes, such as blasted and brushed stone or relief-type finishes too. Natural stone is increasingly regarded as a design element and combined with other materials. As a result of the various problems of glass architecture, especially the unwanted heating up of the buildings in the summer, more closed facades with windows occupying less than 50 per cent of the wall area are being built again. This and the discussions on sustainable building materials are promoting the sale of natural stone.

5. What are your expectations of Stone+tec 2015? How will you present your associations at the coming exhibition?
Sybille Trawinski: As always we expect a lot from the trade fair and will make our contribution to ensuring that Stone+tec 2015 is a successful event. Our stand is to be the industry’s meeting point, not only for members but for anyone interested. Besides advice and presentations on burning issues, the Stonemasons Cafe will be there again and we are also planning a Stonemasons Party. We would also like to organize joint activities together with our colleagues from Switzerland, Austria and South Tyrol – the Skills Competition for trainees at the last Stone+tec was a super event for participants and visitors.
Strategic partnerships at the exhibition are in general very important for us, so we hope to arrange a special show on cemetery design in cooperation with exhibiting firms. The permanent issue of “Dust Avoidance at Work” could also be presented separately. At the moment we are still sounding out ideas and very much hope to realize these with possible partners.
Reiner Krug: The Deutscher Naturwerkstein-Verband will be there again with a stand, where we will present local natural stones and especially our recognized architecture prize, the German Natural Stone Award 2015. Projects for this architecture competition, which we will again present in the four categories of “Public and commercial buildings, Detached houses and apartment blocks, Landscaping and open space design, and Solid components and existing buildings”, can be entered online from 15 September at the web address www.deutscher-natursteinpreis.de. Also planned is a special show at which local natural stone producers can exhibit special stone objects.

6. Why is Stone+tec 2015 definitely not to be missed?
Sybille Trawinski: The industry has no other opportunity to meet the entire stonemasonry trade and all the groups involved in such an extensive and exclusive way. See and be seen – and we don’t mean this in the superficial sense: If our really small industry wants to maintain its position over the increasingly greater competition, we must join forces. An exhibition is certainly also a place for buying and selling, but Stone+tec functions more as a platform for cultivating contacts, as a permanent gathering for the industry and at the same time a place for launching new ideas, where visitors and exhibitors can constantly gain new impressions and experiences. At Stone+tec there is sufficient time for individual questions and intensive talks. No stonemason should miss this opportunity!
Reiner Krug: Stone+tec is still the most important gathering of the German-speaking natural stone experts. The trade fair is an excellent communication platform and connects everyone working in the natural stone industry. First it promotes the necessary exchange between manufacturers and users. Second Stone+tec offers extensive information on new trends in natural stone, in machine and processing technology, and in the market segment of component products like cleaning agents and jointing cement.

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