Emilio Mussini (Panariagroup): "The outlook for 2019 on the US market is moderately optimistic"

Ahead of the appointment with Coverings 2019 (Orlando, 9 to 12 April), we asked some of the leading figures in the US ceramic industry to comment on the current state and future prospects of the US market.

Emilio Mussini, Chairman of Panariagroup

“ Like all Italian producers based in the USA, our US Business Unit experienced worse results than expected in 2018 due to growth in Chinese and above all Spanish imports, which pushed down our volumes compared to 2017.

The outlook for 2019 is moderately optimistic. The US economy continues to grow and there are no signs of a fall in ceramic tile consumption. We are confident that we will see moderate growth and expect our decision to optimize our industrial facilities to bring good results.

Domestic demand is expected to grow by 3%. We have the benefit of being able to serve the US distribution system with dedicated logistics and a product range tailored to the tastes of the domestic market, which we believe will set us apart from foreign competitors. In particular, we expect our Spanish competitors to experience a slowdown as they operate solely as exporters and cannot match the breadth of our range.  „