The first companies in the marble and granite business in Espírito Santo emerged in the 1930s. Although concentrated in the region of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, today the production of Ornamental Stones is widespread throughout the state, mainly in the southern region, which has a large concentration of processing companies, and in the North, with a strong concentration of extractive activity.
According to the superintendent of the Ornamental Stone Exporting Industry Center (Centro Rochas), Olívia Tirello, Espírito Santo is the main producer and largest processor and exporter of ornamental stones in Brazil. It is responsible for 47% of the country’s national production. According to her, the state concentrates more than half of the Brazilian industrial park in this business, both in the number of diamond saws (equipment used to saw blocks, transforming them into slabs) and in companies, as well as in terms of growth.
