Growth forecasts for the Italian ceramic industry

The 2010 end-of-year forecasts for the Italian ceramic industry indicate a positive trend in spite of the difficulties caused by the continued contraction of the national building market. A 0.8% growth in total sales is estimated for the ceramic tile segment (-3.5% in Italy and +2.7% abroad) along with a 4.9% increase in output. Modest growth is anticipated for the Italian tile industry in 2011.

The estimates indicate a 3.6% increase in production during the year and a 1.7% increase in sales (a combination of a 0.1% growth in Italy and 2.3% growth in international markets). This growth will raise production to more than 400 million square metres and sales to almost 420 million square metres, corresponding to a value of around 4.7 billion euro, although these figures still fall far short of pre-crisis levels.