Above any crisis

The ninth edition of M&T Expo presents technologic news and encourages competitiveness and economic development of construction and mining industries

There is no crisis stronger than Brazil. Not even more powerful that the business generation capacity—and consequently of development—of the construction chain. These were some of the lessons taken from the M&T Expo 2015, the largest business trade show of construction and mining industries of Latin America, carried out by Sobratema – Brazilian Association of Technology for Construction and Mining from June 9 to 13 at the São Paulo Expo – Exhibition & Convention Center, in the city of São Paulo. In its ninth edition, the event surprised even its organizers by the number of exhibitors and visitors, by the quality of products and solutions presented but mainly by the business volume that it made feasible.

Nothing less than 45.755 visitors walked through the 100,000 sq.mt. of exhibition area, where 478 exhibitors, representing 25 countries of Europe, Asia, South America and North America presented the state of the art in technology applied to equipment, machines and solutions for the industries focused. Since it was carried out in the middle of an economic crisis, with strong effects on the retraction of infrastructure works, people were afraid that the visitation would not be so expressive. The crowded corridors—in the external area and in the exhibition pavilion—showed the contrary.

The visiting public was formed by buying decision makers, technicians and professionals of companies related to the industry, that were quite interested in the options offered by more than 1000 brands exposed in the São Paulo Expo. These visitors could know a wide range of equipment for earthmoving, paving, load handling, rock drilling, mining, among others, in addition to engines, undercarriage, parts and components.

“The technologic development of machines and the availability of more economic and productive equipment with reduced environmental impact are good examples of what was shown in the exhibition. This updates and increases the competitiveness of the companies working in the area”, emphasizes Afonso Mamede.

There were machines, equipment and solutions brought by exhibitors coming from Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, South Korea, Spain, United States, Holland, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Russia, Singapore, Turkey and Uruguay.

The numbers related to deals closed are not too accurate since many exhibitors that carry out sales during the event have a policy of not informing the values involved due to strategic reasons. “But based on the testimonies of several exhibitors, we concluded that sales carried out before, during and after the M&T Expo 2015 may represent 20 to 30 percent of the total average yearly volume of sales. Historically, this volume is around R$ 15 billion but this year will remain around R$ 10 billion due to the economy slowdown”, says Afonso Mamede, president of Sobratema.

A small circulation around the stands was enough to see the large quantity of machines and equipment with labels of “sold”. For Mamede, the good result of sales improves the role of M&T Expo as a meeting point where professionals and executives of construction and mining industry decide what to purchase.