World production and consumption of ceramic tiles (2016

• In 2016 world ceramic tile production resumed growth rising to 13,056 million sq.m (+5.7% on 2015); tile consumption also grew to 12,783 million sq.m (+5%).
• World exports confirm the slowdown, rising to just 2,794 million sq.m (+1.7%): Chinese exports decreased for the third year in a row, while UE exports showed a new increase.

The fifth edition of the publication “World production and consumption of ceramic tiles” produced by the Acimac Research Department will be released in November. Consisting of 260 pages of graphs, tables and commentary, it provides detailed analysis of the ten-year trends up to 2016 in industry, markets, per capita consumption and export flows in large geographic regions and in the 76 largest tile producer, consumer, exporter and importer countries.

The 5^th annual report provides an overview of the global tile industry and market, which have resumed growth in 2016 following a year of stagnation and sub-percentage-point variations.

In 2016, world ceramic tile production grew by almost 6% to pass the 13 billion sq.m mark, buoyed in particular by the recovery in Asia (+8%) and the more rapid pace of growth in production in the European Union (+7%) and North America (+8.5%), matched by almost identical increases in demand in the same regions.

The growth in Asia is attributable above all to the twin giants of “Chindia”: China in response to the upturn in domestic demand (exports are continuing to fall) and India driven by strong growth in exports to the Middle East (up by no less than 39%!), in some cases replacing Chinese products (for example in Saudi Arabia).

Global import-export flows remained lacklustre for the third year running, growing by just 48 million sq.m to 2,794 million sq.m (+1.7%). Furthermore, this growth was entirely attributable to the strong performance of the European Union – in other words Italy and Spain – which exported a world-leading 80% of its entire output and alone accounted for one quarter of total world exports.

• Read the complete article published on Ceramic World Review no. 123/2017