The American ceramic tile market: the opinion of Ascer

Mar 31, 2006

31/03/06 - In spite of the consolidation of the building market in the USA, the weakness of the dollar against the euro continues to impact negatively on Spain’s exports to America.
However, we aim to strengthen our market position by investing in research and product quality. It is very important to continue to support our national trademark “Tile of Spain”: it helps us to increase sales as consumers remember the origin and value of products more easily than numerous names of producers.

In this connection, the Tile of Spain Center in Miami is focusing on architects in order to promote an awareness of the quality and design of Spanish products in America.

In 2005 the Tile of Spain Center organised 55 seminars, many of which were certified by the Association of American Architects for the purpose of learning credits.

Overall, 2005 was a moderately positive year for Spain although we had to overcome some considerable difficulties.
The most serious was the large increase in energy costs, which translated into a substantial rise in indirect costs. In spite of this, all the economic indicators have increased due to an intense commercial activity on the part of the Spanish companies.
According to the initial estimates, the total turnover from sales for 2005 stands at around 3,815 million euro, about 3.9% up on 2004, while production amounts to 655 million square metres (+2.3%).

The domestic market has increased by 5% to reach a turnover of about 1,778 million euro, while export share is up by 3% to approximately 2,037 million euro, of which 60% is absorbed by the European market (with growth in exports to Eastern Europe).
Exports to the USA totalled 35.1 million sq.m in 2005, slightly down on the previous year.