Giovanni Savorani (Confindustria Ceramica): "I'm optimistic about the prospects for Italian ceramic tile in the USA"

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.

Giovanni Savorani, Chairman of Confindustria Ceramica

“ I’m fairly optimistic about the prospects for Italian ceramic tile in the United States if we consider both exports and domestic production at the Italian-owned factories opened in recent years. It’s true that the US building sector is not particularly dynamic at the moment, but we should remember that ceramic tile accounts for just 14% of the consumption of flooring materials in the USA. This means for example that a 1 percentage point gain in market share from rival products would correspond to an increase of around 20 million square metres.

US international trade policies imposing stricter tariffs on Chinese imports would not affect imported volumes of Italian tiles because of the huge difference in price between Chinese and Italian products (Italian tile stands at around 17 euros per square metre compared to the Chinese figure of 7.5 euros). Even a 25% increase in tariffs on Chinese products would not be sufficient to open up space for our high-end products. But the situation is rather different for products made in the United States and for foreign competitors who sell at lower prices. The real way to increase Italian market share is through more effective communication with American consumers so as to improve awareness of the quality and value of ceramic tile, which offers unrivalled sustainability and performance. With this in mind, following the excellent debut in Europe, Confindustria Ceramica and its partners have chosen Coverings 2019 as the venue for the US market launch of the social media and web campaign entitled “The values of ceramic”. „