Ceramic World Review unveils the rankings of the world's largest ceramic tile and sanitaryware producers (2010)

Rak group, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates and with branches in numerous countries including Italy, tops the 2010 ranking of the largest world tile producing groups in terms of output volumes at 117 million square metres. Next come the Thai group Siam Cement Group (108 million sq.m), known by the brand name Cotto, and the Egypt-based Ceramica Cleopatra Group (96 million sq.m) which also has a branch in Bologna, Italy.
Marazzi Group, the leading Italian producer, ranks fifth with 90 million sq.m behind the Mexican group Lamosa (94 million sq.m). The Concorde Group also features in the rankings with a 2009 production of 38 million sq.m.
The rankings for the largest groups reflect the geographical location of world ceramic tile production, with Asian concerns making up the largest group closely followed by European and American producers.

The turnover based rankings are very different. The majority of players are European with Italian companies making up the largest national group (9 out of 25). Marazzi Group is in third position with 818 million euro, surpassed only by the Spanish group Roca and the Colombian firm Corona, which both generate a significant share of their turnovers from sales of ceramic sanitaryware. The other Italian companies in the rankings are Concorde Group (544 million euro in 2009), Panaria Group (285.2 million euro), Casalgrande Padana (283 million euro), Cooperativa Ceramica d’Imola (274.9 million euro), Florim (273.8 million euro), Iris Group (201.6 million euro in 2009), Ceramiche Ricchetti (196.7 million euro) and Granitifiandre (190 million euro).

By contrast, Italy has only a minor presence in the world rankings in the ceramic sanitaryware sector, where the market is controlled by large multinationals headed by the Spanish group Roca, which last year produced 32.5 million pieces. Next come the US firm Kohler and Ideal Standard, both with a production of around 21 million pieces. In 2010 Italian sanitaryware production exceeded 5.2 million pieces, mainly manufactured in the district of Civita Castellana in the province of Viterbo.