Imagine a fair that starts like an adventure film, continues like the famous Turkish films with a happy ending, and ends full of tension like Tarantino classics.
Xiamen 2024 literally went like the wind.
The stones arriving at the last minute, the members of the Board of Directors of the Aegean Mineral Exporters’ Association (EMİB) celebrating by hugging each other when they saw the trucks entering the fairground, the President of EMİB praying for the stones to arrive during his pilgrimage in Umra and the smooth start of the fair.
Despite the great stress that preceded it, this episode may have remained in our minds as sweet memories, but it is a fact that the picture at the fair was worrying.
The unusually empty Turkish stands, the lack of interest in Turkish stones except for greens, some beiges, limestone and travertine made everyone wonder “Where is the Chinese market going?”.
I think the other questions are these: Are Turkish stones, which were the crown jewel in China until yesterday, suddenly out of fashion, or is there a problem in the Turkish marketing approach?
Will the stones in China’s own and nearby geography cause the cards to be reshuffled? What is the factor that has suddenly brought Brazilian stones to the centre stage?
The answers we will give to these questions and our courage in those answers can shed light on the road to 2030.
Otherwise, if we are to read the picture only through external factors, it seems difficult to make a healthy analysis.
If so…
Now is the time to take a wide-angle picture.
