A project carried out by Sindmóveis to promote the furniture industry suppliers abroad includes the participation in dozens of international fairs in 2012
From 8 to 12 May, Brazilian companies exhibiting at Xylexpo Milan – Biennial world exhibition for woodworking technologies – included CPI Papéis (under the brand name Tegus), Kolafit and Promob. These companies exhibited their new products at the booth of the Orchestra Brasil, a project to boost exports promoted by Sindmóveis in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
This year, the expectations about the show are high. Exhibitors expect to find a different scenario from the last edition in 2010, when business was hampered due to the European crisis. Although the economic situation is still fragile, Italy maintains its position as the third largest furniture producer in the world with a furniture industry nearly three times as big as that of Brazil, besides being the third largest exporter of furniture, only behind China and Germany.
This will be the third participation of Kolafit at Xylexpo, and the CEO of the company, Fulvio Carvalho, aims to find new business partners. For him, the event maintains its strength because of the infrastructure offered by the city of Milan, and its privileged location, facilitating the access of visitors from all over Europe. The businessman intends to investigate not only the extent to which European countries are still affected by the crisis, but also seek other markets, since Xylexpo is visited by representatives of the furniture industry from around the world – including Latin American countries, the main consumer market of Brazilian inputs. “When we first participated in the fair in 2008, we had absolute record of attendance of different countries, totaling 24 nationalities. But in 2010 visitation left a lot to be desired. However, we know that business cannot stop and it has to pick up again,” he says.
Participating in Xylexpo is part of the strategic planning of the Orchestra Brasil Project, as it is one of the most important fairs in the world for suppliers to the furniture sector. According to the advisor of the Business Intelligence of Sindmóveis in Bento Gonçalves, Eduardo Santarossa, although Italy is not among the priority neither secondary markets of the project, taking part in the fair is key to prospect new business for the participating companies. The reasons for that is twofold, Italy plays an important role in the world furniture market and the show is attended by some of the main buyers of raw materials for the furniture industry worldwide and from Latin America. Almost half of the visitors to Xylexpo are not from Italy and at least 30% of the exhibitors in the last edition were from other countries.
The Orchestra Brasil Project was established in 2006 to encourage the internationalization of manufacturers of raw materials, components and technology for the furniture industry. Starting this year, the project now includes design services, featuring 70 member companies
Photo: marketing/Sindmóveis
