The marble and granite sector in Parana, in southern Brazil, is becoming international. With their eye on business opportunities that are being opened abroad, ten industries in the metropolitan region of Curitiba, the state capital joined forces and established Brazilian Marble and Granites (BMG).

BMG is establishing itself in Miami Free Zone, in Florida, USA. The idea is to make the site not only a window, but also a center from where counters and marble and granite floors produced in Curitiba may reach US consumers.

BMG is going to be housed in the distribution center that the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex), connected to the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, installed in Miami Free Zone.

Inaugurated on May 16 2005, the Miami distribution center offers operational and administrative support to Brazilian companies, and has an area of 1,000 square meters, divided into storage space, showroom, offices and meeting rooms.

Up to now, a total of 92 companies are installed at the site. Another 130 are waiting in line. Due to the demand, expansion of the area is already being studied.

From last year to date, industries in the marble and granite sector in the metropolitan region of Curitiba have already exported over 120 tons of lavatory and kitchen counters, for a total of US$ 130,000. There is also the forecast of a 40-ton a month supply contract to a buyer in Detroit.

These are memorable achievements as North American customers are only just discovering the advantages of putting ornamental stones in their houses. "They are only now starting to use marble and granite," explained Jos Georgevan Gomes de Arajo, president of the Union of the Marble and Granite Industries of the state of Paran (Simagran).

The two most used articles for kitchen and bathroom sink counters in the United States are still tiles and "corean", a resin produced by French multinational company DuPont. One of the reasons that caused the North American customer to prefer them was the price.

The discovery of new veins of ornamental stones, an improvement in the industrial process and expansion of productivity, however, are factors that are contributing to a reduction in the price of the end product. "It is getting better priced. The middle class there is starting to consume marble and granite," revealed the president of the Simagran.

To this may be added the aspect of the economic situation in the United States. The growth is generating an expansion in business in various sectors, especially in those that are directly of interest to businessmen from the state of Paran:

"Perspectives are good, as they are currently living a good moment in civil construction," analyzed Antônio Humia Dorrio, the owner of Revestimentos Gres, based in Curitiba and on the market for over 40 years. Exports to the North American market are still taking place "at a starting rhythm", but they have great chances of growth, he bets.