The Italian ceramic industry’s turnover was more than €7.5bn in 2023, Confindustria Ceramica announced at a recent press conference. The total turnover of Italian tile companies was €6.2bn, a 14.1% decrease compared with 2022, of which €5bn was exports.
There are 125 tile manufacturers in Italy, which produced 373.7m square meters in 2023, a 13.3% decrease from 2022, and where 18,432 direct employees are employed, a slight decrease compared to the previous year. While sales figures universally declined, investments amounted to 474 million euros, up 7.4% on 2022, and with a share of 7.7%.
Sanitary ceramics, refractory materials, the brick sector and ceramic tableware also all declined in 2023.
At the conference, Confindustria Ceramic’s outgoing chairman Giovanni Savorani argued that international competition within Europe is unfair, with anti-dumping tariffs against countries like India set at insufficient rates compared to the United States.
He additionally pointed to energy as a critical factor for the country’s competitiveness. He critiqued the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) for being overly punitive towards Italian tile manufacturers despite their comparatively low emissions. He suggested that it’s becoming harder and harder for the country to use natural gas at a time where there are no realistic green alternatives that can make up the gap. Giovanni also pointed to the fact ETS would make it impossible for the ceramics industry to comply with Italy’s Transition 5.0 plans (a set of investments and initiatives aimed to “support the transition of production processes to an efficient, sustainable and renewable energy model”).
www.confindustriaceramica.it
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