The ceramic tile industry's first quarter of 2013

Continuing the 2012 trend, the first quarter of 2013 brought a further slowdown in the European economy and a worsening of the Italian real-estate sector. This contrasted with the buoyant performance of non-European markets where the Italian tile industry reported a 9.6% rise in turnover, including double-figure growth in Russia, the United States, Africa and Australia.

This was offset by a fall of a few percentage points in EU markets and a further sharp decline in sales in the Italian domestic market (-11.5%) on the back of the big losses already suffered in 2012.

The forecasts for 2013 continue to give grave cause for concern. Initial estimates suggest a fall of 12% in Italian sales and 6% in exports to Western Europe. North America, Russia and Eastern Europe, Latin America and North Africa are the areas that offer the greatest growth potential for Italian companies.