Natural stone industry markets

The Finnish Natural Stone Association and Technology Development Centre of Finland (Tekes) have together launched the STONE Technology and Development Programme aimed at developing all sectors of the natural stone industry. The goal of the STONE programme is to double the industry's turnover and increase its exports to FIM 1 billion by the end of 2005. Continued research activity in the sector is also planned as well as making the Finnish natural stone industry into the sector's leading user of IT. VTT Building Technology was assigned the task of determining the value of the industry's natural stone production and the products' use in Finland as well as their exports. VTT's study also examined the uses of certain stone products and their market shares compared to other competing products and assessed the medium-term trend for stone products. Questionnaires were sent out to stone industry companies and potential customers of stone products as part of the study. They were used to determine the outlook for the stone industry and the expectations of companies and customers. The questionnaire study also examined the attitudes of the buyers of stone products towards the products. The study forms the basis of the quantitative goals of the STONE Technology and Development Programme. The programme created indicators and a system for monitoring the stone industry's production volumes and the impact of the programme in detail. The key figures related to the stone sector's production and foreign trade were established as indicators for monitoring the impact. The quantitative goals and created indicators of the STONE programme will be monitored annually. The publication presents a cross-section of the Finnish natural stone industry, its products and product groups. It provides a comprehensive picture of various products' and product groups' shares of the industry. The Luonnonkiviteollisuuden markkinat (Natural stone industry markets) publication is certainly interesting reading for anyone wishing to understand the industry as a whole. Copyright © Valtion teknillinen tutkimuskeskus (VTT) 2000.