On the 21^st of July 2016, the 17^th Moscow stone industry international exhibition inaugurated with participation of 240 companies from 16 countries. Miss Maria Tretyakova, the exhibition director, and exhibition officials reported administrative process in this ceremony and emphasized the development of exhibition in next years.

It is obviously, the presence of Iran stone industry has appeared well. The design and implementation of Iran pavilion is desirable and also the best and most beautiful part of the exhibition. The presentation of beautiful stones and high quality voluminous products flaunt the distance of Iran stone to the world, as well.

We hope the first step as a first official Iran stone industry pavilion at the international level, has a great results in the future.

Amongst beginning of Russia stone industry exhibition, an stone expert considered:

Stone market success depends on government support and preferential tariff

The price of transportation affects prime cost of stone; because of that one of neighbor countries should be determined as a target market.

Mohammad Rasa said: Stone is one of the mineral fields in Iran with the most capacity for global scale development and competition. Nevertheless, still there is not much success and Iran has given the important markets over to small and unknown competitors. However, the entrance opportunity has been prepared in Russia as the first chain of globalization of Iran stone reputation.

Youstone executive director (Service and Consulting Iran Stone Company), Mohammad Rasa, in an interview with “Samt” declared: Although, the Russia market has been located close to Iran, it was not considered by internal Iranian companies. It’s because of success in internal market and followed by at least in two last years any Iranian companies did not participate in Moscow stone exhibition.

Russia, stone target market

Rasa said: One reason for the importance of Russia market is its proximity to Iran’s borders. Another reason is huge Russia stone market. Russia with abundant population and appropriate economic situation is a country which can have significant imports.

According to demographic and economic specification of Russia, this country can be a suitable market for Iran luxury stones and it can prepare the market for ordinary and cheaper Iranian stones, as well.

The challenge of entry to the Russia Market

Rasa noticed about different difficulties of entry to Russia market. He said: As food industry has problems to enter Russia profitable market, stone industry also cannot enter to this market easily. One of these obstacles has been strong penetration to Russia. Rasa mentioned: Iran Stone Association and stone industry activists have done an unprecedented action. Meanwhile they declared their presentation in Moscow stone industry exhibition, they concluded to be present with an equal shape, unit strategy and same pavilions.

Unreached expectations from government

Rasa said: 9 to 10 Iranian companies’ participation in Moscow stone industry is not enough. More than this number was expected but unfortunately it was not possible because of high price in international exhibitions.

Youstone executive director said: The government could have an effective role in supporting of Iranian companies in Moscow stone exhibition, but it did not happen.

It is expected at least 50 percent of stone industry costs be provided by the government.

Stone requires Full government support

Youstone executive director continued: Iran stone quarries are located in outlying and excluded places. On the other hand, this field creates high value added and high revenue for the country. He said: If the government supports stone industry, it will be profitable and foreign exchange inflow market. To achieve these goals, the government should facilitate exports, and like as Turkey, request Russia to adopt the preferential tariff for stone exporting.

Number of participated countries in Moscow stone exhibition during last years

Some of participated countries	2014	2015	2016
Russia	136	122	123
China	67	38	36
Turkey	17	19	–
Italy	30	25	28
India	4	7	5
Iran	0	0	14

According to the determination of the Russian Federation as one of the target market For development of Iran’s export , material and moral support of ministry of industry , mine and trade , trade promotion organization of iran , iran small industries and industrial parks organization , Stone association of iran in partnership with Youstone will hold .

Secretary of the Iran’s stone association emphasized : Unfortunately, in none of the specialized exhibitions we couldn’t attend as worthy of this industry and the main reason was Lack of government support Because the government didn’t consider stone industry in their macroeconomic policies.

He added : Iran’s rival countries in stone portion including Turkey and Italy because of  moral and material government’s support , they took part in international exhibition as pavilion every year . While Iranian companies without any planning took part in specialized exhibitions.

Sharify by referring to agreement between stone association of Iran and Italy said : according to this agreement a stone intercommunion institution will establish and stone association of Italy as our administrator attract Italian companies for holding specialized stone exhibitions.

Secretary of the Iran’s stone association by emphasizing on Iran’s strong companies attendance in specialized exhibition stone industry in Russia said : this exhibition is going to hold on June 2016, in Moscow and 1000 meters pavilion belongs to Iran stone industry .  

Source : Mine 24

Date : 7/March/2016

After identifying and inviting French traders, Youstone asked its representative office in South Korea to bring and accompany several stone experts to Tehran and Mahalat fair so that they can evaluate the quality, the variety and the price of Iranian stone and then initiate the primary stages of importing processed stone from Iran. Youstone’s goal is to introduce Iranian stone to the world, specifically to countries with a high record of stone import.

As it was pointed out in previous news, after China, India, the United States and Italy, Korea has the highest rate of stone demand and import. It is obvious that the presence of stone experts from Korea is both important and crucial in the current market conditions.

According to the negotiations with Korean traders, 3 experts were introduced to visit Mahalat stone fair and consider buying stone from Iran, two of which are active in stone marketing in the representative office of Youstone and the other one is invited from a Korean company which is active in buying stone for major projects like hospitals, hotels, etc.

The Korean company of Hancock started its activity in Seoul in 1989 and has imported stone from Italy, Greece, Germany, Portugal, Turkey and Mexico.

Therefore, it’s a good opportunity for Iran’s stone activists to introduce their products and expose the quality and variety of Iranian stone to other countries for the purpose of export and extension of the international market.

Currently, all of Youstone’s effort is focused on reaching an agreement with Korean and French traders and facilitating their participation in the fair.

Youstone’s booth located in NO.50, Hall B welcomes you to the 8^th Mahalat-Nimvar stone fair.

Date: 10 Oct 2015

According to the export approach of Youstone, it is consulting with the French Bouygues Company (one of the world’s largest construction contractors) to send some of its purchase experts to the Stone Exhibition of Mahallat-Nimvar. Youstone considers the introduction of Iranian stones to foreign construction companies as one of its important tasks and it has always worked to achieve this.

So far, our negotiations have led to identifying and inviting a 4-member delegation of French businessmen, as noted from Bouygues , in order to attend and visit the 8^th Stone Exhibition of Mahallat and purchase the stone required. Thus, it is a great opportunity for Iranian stone practitioners to offer their products at reasonable prices, and good variety and quality for export purposes and developing their international market.

In the coming days, Youstone will inform you about the visit process of this trade delegation.

In Hall B, Pavilion 50, Youstone honors all practitioners of the stone industry to the 8^th Stone Exhibition of Mahallat.

Below is an introduction to the French Bouygues Company:

History:

The company was founded by Francis Bouygues in 1952. In 1970 Bouygues became listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. In 1985 and 1986 Bouygues acquired road construction groups Screg, Sacer and Colas; later reorganised as Colas group. In 1987 the company started operating the television channel TF1 and in 1988 Bouygues moved into its new head office, the Challenger complex, in Saint-Quentin en Yvelines. In 1996 the company launched Bouygues Télécom and in 2006 the company acquired 23.26% of Alstom.

In 2014, consecutively to Alstom’s cession of its Energy activities to General Electric, Bouygues granted a call option to the French government allowing it to acquire a maximum of 20% of Alstom, currently owned by the group.

Business Structure:

Construction

• Bouygues Construction (100% share): construction, public works, energy & services, with a presence in 80 countries worldwide
• Colas group (96.6% share): roadworks, construction, railways and maintenance
• Bouygues Immobilier (100% share): residential, corporate, commercial and hotel real estate and urban development, property development
• BINA Istra (16% share): motorway development and management

60 YEARS TO BUILD A MARKET LEADER:

Ever since the earliest days of the Bouygues Group, Bouygues Construction has grown through a long series of innovative projects, both at home in France and in many international locations. Its ability to leverage its expertise to meet increasingly ambitious challenges defines the identity of a group that never stands still.

Year-book of the group:

1952-1999: In 1952, at a time when France was still rebuilding in the aftermath of the War, Francis Bouygues, a young graduate of the École Centrale engineering school, started up a business in the construction sector, founding Entreprise Francis Bouygues, later to become the Bouygues Group. Initially specialising in building and industrial works in the Paris region, the company expanded in the 1960s and 1970s with projects in civil works and electricity/maintenance. Its operations spread through France and other countries with a series of prestigious projects, including the University of Riyadh (1984), the Ile de Ré bridge (1988) and the Channel Tunnel (1993). In 1999, a Bouygues Group subsidiary was created for all the building, civil works, operation and maintenance businesses: the Bouygues Construction Group.

2004: The Group created a Specialist Civil Works division consisting of VSL and DTP Terrassement. In the same year, Bouygues Construction signed a flagship contract for the construction of the Masan Bay bridge in South Korea. Meanwhile, the Groene Hart tunnel in the Netherlands was handed over. This remarkable 7-kilometre infrastructure, bored under the water table through sand and silt soil, allows 2 trains to pass each other at 300 kph.

2006: Bouygues SA opened its new headquarters, and HQE building at 32 avenue Hoche in Paris. In Cyprus, Bouygues Construction won a public-private partnership contract to reconstruct Larnaka and Paphos airports, with a 25-year concession contract. In Thailand, the Group was awarded a contract to build the 3 tallest residential towers in Bangkok.

2008: Bouygues Construction won its first public-private partnership contract in Canada, for the construction of the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey, British Columbia, along with operation for 30 years. In France, the Group handed over the A41 motorway, linking Annecy and Geneva.

2009: Bouygues Construction won a contract worth €950 million in Qatar, for the construction of the QP District, a vast property development consisting of nine towers. Several projects were completed, including a teaching hospital in Clermont-Ferrand, the Rolex Learning Centre in Lausanne, and the Tangiers Med 1 port in Morocco.

2010: Bouygues Construction and the Leadbitter management team acquired a majority stake in the British group, Leadbitter. In Singapore, Bouygues Construction signed a contract to build the Sports Hub, a world record public-private partnership contract for a sports facility. In France, through Arema, Bouygues Construction signed a partnership with the city of Marseille for the reconfiguration and operation of the Stade Vélodrome football stadium for 35 years.

2012: VSL, a Bouygues Construction subsidiary specialising in post-tensioning systems, completed the installation of the cable-stayed segments of the world’s tallest cable-stay bridge. Located at Baluarte, Mexico, the bridge crosses a deep canyon, and at its highest point reaches approximately 403 metres. VSL’s contribution to this exploit has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records.

2014: Alongside Vinci, Bouygues Construction was awarded a contract to construct the Nouvelle Route du Littoral on Reunion Island. The Group handed over 2 flagship projects in Asia: the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Building in Hong Kong and the Sports Hub in Singapore, a temple of sports and leisure.

Bouygues is active in 100 countries with over 127,470 employees.

Date: 10 Oct 2015

After one year from the information collection and the efforts of experts in this complex for launching the system and opening it officially in “The Seventh International Fair of Stone, Mining and Related Equipment” in July, Youstone is preparing to participate in one of the important Iranian fairs, i.e., Mahalat Fair. Markazi Province, especially Mahalat County, is a main producer of stone in Iran, Thus, participation in this fair is considered a way for introducing Iranian stone to foreign and local customers. This gap is specifically felt after the agreements of Iran with 5+1 countries and the need of Iran for development of international markets. Foreign companies should participate and visit local fairs for the growth of this industry. Regarding the abundant sources of stone in Iran and the variety of the designs and colors of stones, the participation of mines and companies is necessary in this fair. We aim to activate this market in Iran and foreign countries. This will be achieved with the help of authorities and activists in stone industry.

Youstone also tries to develop the market of this Iranian heavenly blessing and has started its activities for local and international information and is helping to develop international market.

Executive Secretary of the Eighth International Mahalat Stone Fair said: “Foreign companies have welcomed this fair more than those of previous years.”

“After the agreement of Iran with 5+1 countries, Russia, Ukraine, Qatar and the Gulf Countries announced that they will participate in the Eighth International Mahalat Stone Fair,” said Mohammad Halajian in an interview with IRNA on Sunday.
He added that companies form China, Italy, Spain, Germany, Turkey and the Gulf Countries that participated in the Seventh International Mahalat Stone Fair also announced that they will participate again in the fair.
 “Some countries like China and India will directly participate in the fair and European countries will send their representatives to the fair,” he added. 
He stated that the Chamber of Commerce cooperated with us and provided us with the list of 200 businessmen; 90 percent of these businessmen have announced that they will participate in the fair.
 “The Eighth International Mahalat Fair of Stone and Mining will be held in Mahalat, Nimvar in a surface area of 55000 M² in eight separate halls from October 11^th to October 14^th,” he said.
Four thousand Tons of raw stone from 70 Iranian mines was exposed to visitors in the Seventh International Mahalat Stone Fair last year.
Mahalat is located in Southern Markazi Province, 105 kilometers from Arak.

Source: IRNA

In line with its mission in providing services to members of Youstone website, Youstone provides new service as follows:

Cooperation of  Youstone and DaryaHoor:

DaryaHoor company with more than 20 years of activity in the field of transportation, provides the following services to exporters of stone.

A) The container services for sea shipment of building and decorative stones:

• Land, sea and rail transport
• Transportation planning and logistics services
• port and terminal services by offering the best prices of stuffing and Lashing
• Transportation services for free to calculate the price and feasibility of export

B) stone carrier services in bulk:

• Renting and representation of ships and suitable floating
• loading and unloading services
• Transportation planning

In DryaHoor, we have introduced ourselves as a specialized exporter of mineral stones and stones for export. We do not consider our background the reason for this, but the effective communication with exporters, terminals and shipping lines which, in a comprehensive look at all stages of transport, has led us to get familiar with all the problems and prevent them.

Thus we announce the prices that the company will receive for carrying stones to its customers:

The cost for loading inside the container (with admission): 340,000 Tomans

The cost for loading inside the container (without admission): 300,000 Tomans

Lashing price: 45000 Tomans

Also, the costs related to transportation which have been announced for the next 10 days were as follows:

Origin: Shahid Rajai port

Destination: Xiamen

Shipping cost: 270 USD

Destination: Shanghai

Shipping cost: 270 USD

Destination: Spain, Valencia

Shipping cost: 1950 USD

In line with its mission which we consider if for helping to facilitate exports by providing professional services, we have decided to offer discounts to members of Youstone website in accordance with the following table.

The discount is applicable on the total cost of transportation.

Late July days are marked with reopening of professional exhibitions at Tehran Site. 23^th International Exhibition of Tile and Ceramic, 13^th International Exhibition of Kitchenware, Bathroom, Sauna, and Swimming Pool Accessories, and 7^th International Exhibition of Stone Mines and Related Machineries and Equipment are all going to open on July 20^th.

In recent days and in form of exhaustive reports, we carried out investigations into the necessary conditions for holding such exhibitions in countries other than Iran. Now, as we are more and more approaching the opening time of exhibitions, we have the chance to talk with related authorities and administrators. As our first step, we attended Exhibition of Stone, an almost young exhibition with, yet, great significance. Simultaneous with the Sixth Exhibition of Stone (2014), a series of tours to mines and related professional meetings and conferences were held with focus on exploration, mining, processing, sale, and export issues, which well reveals the importance of the exhibition. Here, we have a talk with Abolqasem Shafi’i, head of Iranian Association of Stone and administrator of the exhibition, in order to know more about different dimensions of this professional event. Follow us with SAMT News:

Would you please talk about the exhibition of stone? What are we going to experience here?

The 7^th International Exhibition of Stone and Related Machineries and Equipment will, if Allah wills, open in a few days at Tehran Permanent Site for International Exhibitions. In comparison with the former exhibition held in Iran on 2014, the exhibition has a 30-percent increase in space and it covers three main parts: mining, processing, and related machineries.

The exhibition is mainly aimed at clarifying production capacity of domestic and foreign producers, providing a competitive background for and proper communication between researchers, producers, consumers, as well as professional-engineering companies. A total of 100 domestic and 24 foreign companies are going to exhibit their products on a land area of 11.000 square meters from July 20^th to July 23^th.

With regard to Iran’s new opportunities for international communications, how far have you been successful in attracting foreign producers?

The conditions, for sure, has changed for better. It is for the first time that some European companies, including Spanish and English ones, are taking part in the Iranian exhibition of stone. In addition, some German, Italian, Greek, and Bulgarian companies are present here as the main participants of the event. There are, furthermore, some Chinese, South Korean, Russian, Turkish, and Indian producers accompanying us in the event.

How many counterpart exhibitions of stone and related industries are held in other countries?

There are 12 active countries in stone, mining, and related industries. These countries domestically have the raw materials, which makes them self-sufficient in stone. Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal from Europe, India, China, Turkey, and Iran from Asia, Brazil and Mexico from South America, and finally, South Africa and Egypt from Africa are the active forces of the area.

International professional exhibitions, however, are held only in 6 countries. Italy, China, Spain, Turkey, India, and Iran are the six countries who, enjoying rich stone resources, hold great stone exhibitions. There are other countries, of course, such as UAE and Russia, who are active in holding exhibitions, not, however, as producers, rather consumers. These countries have nothing domestic to produce, yet they try to be active in exhibitions, exhibiting their imported stone industry and gain the related advantage.

Which Iranian cities, do you think, are capable of holding related exhibitions of stone?

Isfahan and Mahallat are well qualified for this. Isfahan exhibitions are great exhibitions attracting reputable foreign companies. Isfahan rich mining resources and the corresponding capacities in production of related machinery have made it one of the significant names of the field.

How far can such exhibitions help stone industries’ development?

For sure they have positive influences on improved development procedures. Provided background necessities for domestic production of machinery, ergo independence in the field is one of the changes came true through such exhibitions. I should mention that Iran has a potential 2-billion-dollar export capacity per year, which is not achieved so far. More than 17 million tons of decorative stones are each year extracted in Iran. Holding stone exhibitions is a step toward improved actual export capacity. Anyway, we hope Tehran Exhibition of Stone is ideally held and helps us achieve our desired objectives, particularly within international markets.

Is there any related side events and workshops?

Yes, professional meetings are going to be held so that stone activists will better consult and cooperate with each other.

What are your plans for exhibition’s opening ceremony?

We have invited Mr. Ne’mat-Zadeh, minister of industries, mining, and trade, to be here with us, and he has accepted our invitation. All related deputies as well as members of Iranian Association of Stone are also invited.

Source: SAMT News