First positive signs for the Spanish ceramic tile industry

After a severe drop in sales in 2009 (29.5% down on 2008), the worst year in the history of the Castellón ceramic cluster, the Spanish ceramic tile industry is beginning to show the first signs of recovery. Exports rose by 7.1% in March, the first increase in 18 months. Although encouraging, this figure was insufficient to prevent the first quarter of 2010 from closing with an overall 3.3% fall in turnover due to the losses in January (-14%) and February (-6.1%).

Although the rise in exports has helped to restore a certain amount of confidence within the sector, Ascer (Spanish ceramic tile manufacturers' association) remains cautious and warns that a return to stability will be strongly dependent on recovery of the key European markets.

The first quarter of 2010 saw a 9.9% fall in sales to the EU (48.9% of total exports), partly offset by a 16.5% increase in the Middle East (15.4% of total exports). This is a very respectable performance considering that in 2009 the ceramic tile manufacturers reported an average fall in turnover in international markets of 25%, down from 3,761 million euro in 2008 to 2,591 million euro last year. The situation in the domestic market continues to cause concern with no signs yet of a recovery. In 2009 the domestic market contracted by 37.12% to just above 900 million euro.

On a further positive note, the official figures published by the Valencian Institute of Statistics (IVE) revealed a 4.5% increase in tile production in March, bringing the average for the quarter to +1.5% (following a 3.2% increase in February). A total fall in production of almost 42% was reported in 2009.