The American ceramic tile market: the opinion of Marcio Muller

Mar 09, 2006

09/03/06 - Marcio Muller, American sales manager for Brazilian manufacturer Eliane Ceramic Tiles, was very upbeat: "In 2005 we achieved around 15% growth.
This very positive trend has been continuing now for more than 5 years.
Our export share is one of the highest in the sector at 78 million dollars, including more than 60 million dollars for the markets in USA, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
We are one of the world's top ten ceramic tile exporters to the USA.
In 2006 we expect to see a further increase following the significant renewal of our product mix. In February we launched a new glazed porcelain tile line with an output of 200,000 sq. m. / month, entirely for exports.

Glazed porcelain tile is very popular in this market for its aesthetic and technical qualities, and accounts for more than 1/3 of our exports.
One of our key strengths is our wide range of offerings, including porcelain tile, single firing and monoporosa, as well as numerous sizes, colors, decorations and finishes. We aim to be an increasingly all-round supplier serving large tile distributors, floor covering distributors and home centers.

What do I think about competition with other emerging countries? We are in such a globalized industry now, we face competition from several countries, American manufacturers, Mexico, China, Turkey, Spain; each country has its leaders and presents different competitive challenges.
But we like our competitive position and with the support of our distribution partners, Eliane has continued to gain market share amid stiff competition. I don't see much overlap between Italian tiles and our own. We face much tougher competition from Spanish companies."