The 2022 Stone+tec Trade Fair and Congress for the natural stone industry will take place from 22 to 25 June at NürnbergMesse. After four years, this huge live meeting place for the natural stone industry is returning once more. Around 250 exhibitors are taking part and showcasing the applications of this innovative building material between tradition and innovation.

The natural stone industry has weathered the coronavirus pandemic relatively well and has full order books in many areas, although there are delays due to the progressive shortage of some raw materials and disruptions to supply chains. Added to this are rising costs for energy and transport. The industry is currently stable, but price trends for natural stone are uncertain. Especially in these times of rapid development, in-person discussions with partners, suppliers and industry experts are becoming increasingly important. Stone+tec, as an international competence forum for natural stone and stone technology, has thus come at the right time with its relaunch.

Three exhibition halls and an accompanying congress

Stone+tec’s range of products and services can be found in Halls 10, 11 and 12 and is divided into three major thematic areas: “Building with Natural Stone”, “Equipment for Professionals” and “Place of Remembrance”. An important building block and a new extension of the fair’s offering is the Stone+tec Congress, which opens up the event to new target groups and provides professional inspiration. The new Innovation Area focuses on exciting projects, new designs and processing ideas and provides inspiration for working with natural stone.

A durable building material for contemporary architecture

Natural stone plays an important role in architecture. Not only can it be found in historical buildings and churches – numerous modern building complexes are made with or from natural stone, and it is often found in facades as well as interior fittings. Natural stone is also frequently used in gardening and landscaping as well as for gravestones and monuments.

Natural stone is the focus of Stone+tec in Hall 11, where exhibitors will present various types, such as marble from Italy or Turkey, limestone, quartzite, granite, slate and Franconian sandstone. Crushed stone and pebbles are also on offer. In addition, the application and processing of other floor coverings, such as ceramics for instance, will be on show. In the centre of Hall 11, the fair’s professional sponsors are taking part: the German Natural Stone Association DNV and the Federal Association of German Stonemasons BIV are important pillars of the industry and will be at Stone+tec to meet their members in person. The stonemasonry trade is the focus of the BIV’s young talent competition, in which young stonemasons can demonstrate their skills and creativity.

German Natural Stone Award 2022

The German Natural Stone Award will be presented on 22 June during Stone+tec and will focus on natural stone as a sustainable and future-proof building material. From 62 submitted projects, the expert jury nominated 20 outstanding natural stone works in the categories “Public buildings, residential and commercial buildings”, “Single-family houses and villas”, “Construction in existing buildings” and “Landscape architecture and open space design”. For architects, the German Natural Stone Award is a prestigious distinction.

Equipment for professionals

In Hall 12, tools and machinery for stone processing will be presented, including CNC and diamond tools, machinery for cutting and sawing natural stone, grinding machines and software solutions. In addition, there will be information and devices for the transport and storage of natural stone. Transportation plays a key role, particularly in terms of sustainability. Here, the trend is towards the use of regional stone. The topics of occupational safety and equipment for the construction site are also at home at the Stone+tec.