Italian tiles saved by their quality

May 28, 2007

28/05/07 - - The Italian ceramic tile industry can boast a strong constitution.
The 27th national statistical survey conducted by the Italian tile and sanitaryware manufacturers’ association, presented for the first time under its new name of Confindustria Ceramica, reveals a further slight fall in production to 568.6 million sq.m (0.25% down on 2005, the smallest decrease in the last five years), a decrease in the number of companies to 207 (18 fewer than last year), but at the same time a 6.87% rise in turnover to 5,741.6 million euro. In absolute values, Italian domestic sales amounted to 1,583.2 million euro (+4.95%) and exports 4,158.3 million euro (+7.62%). In terms of quantities, Italian sales totalled 170.5 million sq.m (+0.29%) and exports 395.8 million sq.m (+1.41%).

Average selling prices also continued to rise in 2006. The 4.73% increase over the previous year (+4.65% in Italy and +6.12% abroad) reflected an improvement in the mix of offerings as well as a response to rising production costs, particularly that of energy, and the depreciation of the dollar against the euro.
Although the Italian companies succeeded in passing on these increases to the market, this did not automatically bring an improvement in profit margins.

As for product types, 2006 saw porcelain tile confirm its leadership position with a 67.38% share of total production (383.1 million square metres).
Although glazed porcelain tile remained the type with the highest sales volumes, the six new kilns started up for porcelain tile production were all for the unglazed version, the type for which Italy is most capable of excelling with respect to its competitors.
This was followed by single fired tiles (20.50%) and double fired tiles (8.34%). White body single fired tile (-11.13%) continued to be substituted by glazed porcelain tile (+4.42%).

The continued trend towards product innovation is further evidenced by the value of investments already planned for 2007, a total of 331.7 million euro (29.57% up on 2006).
However, this figure includes the launch of a major three-year investment programme by one of the largest groups in the sector, involving an expenditure of 50 million euro in 2007 alone.