The first league table of the world's top tile manufacturers

In its June-July issue, Ceramic World Review, the leading trade publication for the ceramic industry, is publishing an exclusive study of the world's top ceramic tile manufacturers. It takes the form of a league table based on volumes produced in 2007, compiled from questionnaires sent to the world's largest ceramic manufacturers and data from public and private sources, and it reveals some interesting findings.

The total tile output of the top 20 groups in 2007 reached 1,241.1 million sq. m., or about an eighth of worldwide production, which was estimated at about 8 billion sq. m. in 2007, divided between several thousand companies. The top 20 groups in the league table boast output of more than 35 million sq. m. per year.
A breakdown of the top 20 groups by nationality, meanwhile, accurately reflects the current geographical spread of the world ceramic industry.
In first place is the Italian group, Marazzi, which is also the group with the highest degree of internationalisation. In second place is Lamosa Grupo (Mexico), followed by another multinational group, Rak Ceramics, which has production sites in six countries worldwide, including the United Arab Emirates, where it is headquartered.

The remaining rankings also reflect the geography of worldwide production: indeed all the major manufacturing countries have one or more of the top seeds, but Italy leads the field with three, namely Marazzi Group, Gruppo Concorde and Cooperativa Ceramica d'Imola. This confirms the importance of Italy, its industrial history and the penetration of its brands and companies on world markets.