Spanish glaze and frit producers experience sharply falling sales in 2023

Revenues dropped by 21.5% compared to 2022, with losses amounting to more than €400 million. ANFFECC reiterates the need for direct aid from the Spanish government.

In response to the ongoing industry-wide downturn, the Spanish ceramic frit, glaze, and colour producers’ association ANFFECC has urged the central government to implement additional measures to support the sector. The association highlighted the insufficiency of the aid received to date, totalling just €20 million, and emphasised the severe delays in the allocation of these funds, with the latest disbursement not arriving until the beginning of January 2024.

Demand and production have both been falling for the last two years and resulted in €400 million losses in revenue in 2023 alone, equivalent to a 21.5% year-on-year decline.

As ANFFECC Secretary General Manuel Breva pointed out, the lack of government support in recent months has been compounded by the difficult international geopolitical situation, particularly the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and the problems in the Suez Canal, as well as the downturn in the construction sector in Europe.

This has “fuelled a crisis that had not been experienced in the Castellón ceramic cluster for many years”, he said.

Another problem faced by the Spanish glaze and frit producers is the trade embargo with Algeria (the industry’s second largest foreign market), which has continued for more than a year and finally appears to be in the process of being resolved.

The main concern to the industry’s business leaders is the loss of international competitiveness.

“The crisis has already led to the start of the much-feared process of relocation of frit and glaze production, exacerbated by the enormous regulatory pressure imposed by Europe, with requirements that are increasingly difficult to meet,” said Breva.