Spain

A new line for big slabs will be installed in the Venux plant, while the other two will be supplied to another factory of the group dedicated to traditional sizes.

A leader in the diamond tool sector, the Castellón-based company will be exhibiting its entire range of solutions at the next edition of the Bologna show.

The Spanish ceramic frit, glaze and colour producers’ association sounds the alarm about relocation in response to the difficult situation facing the sector.

The new kiln came into operation in April, completing the investment plan at the Peronda 2 plant initiated in 2017 with the start-up of a Continua+ line for slab production.

LB supplied the spray-dried powder storage and feeding system, as well as dosing and mixing systems and two Easy Color Boost dry coloring lines.

Spanish tile production fell by 15% last year, with both exports and domestic sales down 13% respect to 2021. Total revenues grew by 16% as a result of higher selling prices.

Sacmi drying and firing technology has been chosen by the Spanish company for its new large-format production plant in Castellón. This includes the new FMA Maestro kiln and the 7-level dryer.

Easy Color Boost Evo, the latest system developed by LB, has been installed at the Spanish company Undefasa together with a new flake batching system.

Porcelanosa Group’s Plant 4 came into operation at the beginning of the year and will produce 1.3 million sqm/year of sintered stone slabs to be sold under the XTONE brand name.

Organized by the B&T Group, in the Castellón ceramic cluster, the Open House along with a tour of all the main ceramic client facilities.

The sector ended 2021 with total investments of €58 million, an increase of 78% on 2020 and 38% on 2019.

Grupo Pamesa reported consolidated revenues of €1,220 million in 2021, a 56% increase on 2020. This included 43% growth in the ceramic segment to €881.7 million. Fernando Roig confirms that the group will be investing a further €95 million this year.

The second Easy Colour Boost system supplied by LB has already been successfully tested.

Increases of up to 320% are threatening companies’ profitability and R&D investments.

Revenues in the second quarter of 2021 totalled 417 million euros, 11.5% higher than in the first quarter of the year. The excessive increase in costs is a cause for concern.

Chairman Joaquín Font de Mora believes that the competitiveness of the Spanish ceramic glaze and colour industry may be impacted by rising costs. Progress on projects aimed at decarbonising the sector

Two years after the acquisition of the Indian site in Morbi, Sicer has strengthened its position in Spain with the acquisition of the Cerfrit production facility.

Preliminary estimates point to 2020 sales of between -1% and +2% of the 2019 figure thanks to exports to the USA, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Turnover totalled €1,256 million (down 5.3% on 2019), of which 70.5% was generated by exports (-5.9%). The Spanish market recovered more quickly, closing 2020 at -3.7%.

The industry has finally seen a return to positive territory in Q3 2020 with turnover up 0.6% on the same period in 2019. In September sales saw strong 8.8% growth.