This is the event of the year for any tile manufacturer interested in entering the Russian market. MosBuild 2006, the twelfth edition of Russia’s most important building industry expo, hold in Moscow from 4th to 7th April at the city’s Expocenter and Crocus Expo fair districts. Ceramic tiles and bathroom furnishings mainly featured in three of the event’s many sections: Ceramic&Stone, Santechinika and Technoceramica.
Italian ceramic tiles manufacturers – approximately 30 of which participated in the 2005 edition – were mainly exhibited in the Ceramic&Stone section, but the other two sections abovementioned – one of which dedicated to bathroom furnishings and the other to ceramic industry technology – were also of particular interest. Alongside the Italians, ceramic tile manufactures from Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany and, of course, from Russia itself were also present.
The expo intended to offer a comprehensive overview of all the products related to the building market available today: accordingly, it included materials for the construction industry and interior decoration, textiles for interior design and even products for the garden. There were also sections dedicated to the use – in building applications – of materials such as glass and metals.
Russia is a promising and vibrant market for ceramic tiles, and is a scenario where Italy is now also making substantial investments in the realisation of new production plants. Figures for exports from Italy alone show a total of 3.4 million square metres (+3.2%) in the first 9 months of 2005, for a value of € 57 million (+10.9%), equating to an average price of above € 16 per square metre - a new record for Italian exports.
The MosBuild expo has grown constantly since it inception in 1995: in 2005 it drew over 80,000 visitors (over 90% of which were Russian), with 1700 participating companies.
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Ceramica Sant Agostino won the award for the best stand in the Ceramic & Stone section
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