Mosbuild 2013 splits in two

This year's Mosbuild, one of the most important trade fairs staged in Moscow, will be divided into two separate events held in different weeks: the Building section, from 2 to 5 April, devoted to construction materials and brick manufacturing technologies; and Cersanex, from 16 to 19 April, which hosts the sections Bathrooms (bathroom furnishings), Ceramics (tiles), Technoceramica (tile and sanitaryware manufacturing technologies), Stonex (natural stone) and Pool, Sauna & Spa (wellness). Mosbuild Building will host exhibitors from 40 countries, many of whom will be part of delegations from Malaysia, Hungary, Belgium, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, South Korea, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Spain and Taiwan. There will also be numerous Italian and German producers of plant and machinery for the brick industry. Cersanex will host more than 600 exhibitor companies from 30 different countries, including the usual strong presence of national pavilions of tile producers. More than 30 Italian companies will be taking part under the banner of Ceramics of Italy. There will be large numbers of Spanish and Chinese producers alongside ever greater numbers of local companies.

The ancillary events include the first edition of the e3Awards, the 1st Eco Award International for Construction and Finishing Materials focusing on Ecology, Energy and Efficiency (e3) with the aim of promoting the use of eco-friendly materials in the building sector. Another important initiative will be the fifth edition of ArchCeramica, the International Architecture and Ceramic Competition organised by the International Association of Unions of Architects (IAUA), ITE Group Plc and the magazine Sovremenniy Dom.

Russia remains a strategic market for the ceramic and heavy clay machinery industry. Russian tile production increased by a further 13.4% in 2012, up from 135.6 million sq.m to almost 154 million sq.m. Tile consumption is also growing rapidly (+14.4%), reaching an all-time high of 207.1 million sq.m. Some 69% of this is met by local production (143.2 million sq.m, 18 million sq.m more than in 2011) and 31% by imports, which have reached 64 million sq.m, 14.3% up on 2011.  The largest tile exporter country to Russia is now Ukraine, which in the space of just two years has tripled its exports to 15.2 million sq.m. Second-placed Spain is also seeing export growth (up 23.5% to 14.2 million sq.m), followed by Belarus (12 million sq.m), China (9.8 million sq.m, +8.9%), Italy (5.3 million sq.m, +8.2%) and Poland (4.4 million sq.m, +29.4%).