Giovanni Savorani analyses the challenges and the opportunities of the Italian ceramic industry

Confindustria Ceramica Chairman Giovanni Savorani describes the various factors that have contributed to the slowdown of the sector as well as the measures that have been put in place to exploit new opportunities.

Despite the lacklustre year in 2018 (Italian ceramic tile production and sales decreased to about 410 million sq.m), the Italian industry is maintaining its positions in terms of market share and average selling prices (currently around 13.8 euros/sq.m), remaining the third largest exporter country by volume after China and Spain with 12% of the global market, and the world leader in terms of value.

According to the Chairman of Confindustria Ceramica Giovanni Savorani “the Italian ceramic industry can boast excellent fundamentals: the Italian ceramic companies are equipped with the most advanced technology, they have fine-tuned their sales networks and organised worldwide distribution systems, so we expect to be the first to exploit opportunities as and when they arise. Today, although our production volumes are 17% lower than in 2008, our turnover is level with pre-crisis results, thanks to the improvement in product mix and quality and the presence of large-size slabs on the market, a segment where Italy is the world leader.”

However, Savorani provides a thorough analysis of the various factors that have contributed to the slowdown in 2018 and that and are still impacting the sector’s performance. Among these, he mentions the increasing competition from producer countries with much lower labour and energy costs and a far superior infrastructure system. As for the biggest contraction in Saudi Arabia, Italian sales were hit by the antidumping measures introduced to defend the domestic market from Chinese, Indian and Spanish products.

Another big threat comes from the higher competition of LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles), while the real lack of adequately trained professionals in certain markets further aggravates the problem of ceramic tile installation costs, which are already higher than the cost of the product itself. Moreover, in Italy, the expected recovery of the renovation market failed to materialise although anti-seismic and energy-saving incentives are available.

Read the full interview to Giovanni Savorani published in Ceramic World Review 130/2019