VERONA, Italy C The worlds premier stone show appears to be on track for 2009 ... even if the host countrys industry is feeling the economic pinch.



Registration for Marmomacc, set for Sept. 30-Oct. 3, are currently in line with 2008 performance, according to a statement from VeronaFiere, the events producer.



Last falls show, held during the height of the worlds financial crisis, ended up drawing more than 63,000 visitors from 120+ countries taking in displays from 1,536 exhibitors.



Event officials noted that Italys 11,000-company, 60,000-employee stone industry is feeling the worlds economic slowdown. Information from industry group Confindustria Marmomacchine noted that the 826 million in stone machinery exported in 2008 represented a 2.9-percent decline from the previous year, and exports of major types of dimensional stone last year slipped 5.3 percent in volume and 6.9 percent in value from 2007.



The world situation is complex, says Giovanni Mantovani, VeronaFiere director general, "and the natural-stone field is no exception. Sales are down, as well as imports of material; that means lower product processing quantities for our districts. Forecasts for 2009 are by no means rosy, although a few timid signs of a recovery are coming from across the Atlantic.



We hope, however, that the event will be able to ensure a little more trust in the value chain and, with this, a desire to get going again. VeronaFiere is already operating to provide effective responses to all the needs of companies in close agreement with production districts.



The signal coming from companies, says Claudio Valente, deputy president of VeronaFiere, is to tackle the crisis by seeking new markets and new commercial outlets. Our task is to work at the side of companies to help them identify more-dynamic markets to encourage growth opportunities C not the least through the cultural events, experiments and training for architects that Marmomacc proposes every year.