01   Dicembre   2014

Confindustria Ceramica leaders meet German clay suppliers and shipping agents

Chairman Vittorio Borelli and Transport and Raw Materials Committee Chairman Villiam Tioli met the representatives of a number of leading suppliers of German clays and shipping agents at the association’s headquarters in Sassuolo

On Friday 28 November, Confindustria Ceramica Chairman Vittorio Borelli and Transport and Raw Materials Committee Chairman Villiam Tioli met the representatives of a number of leading suppliers of German clays and shipping agents at the association’s headquarters in Sassuolo. Germany is one of the leading suppliers of high-quality raw materials for the Italian ceramic industry, alongside Ukraine and Turkey.

The participants in the meeting analysed the statistics for the Italian ceramic industry’s clay imports from Germany. After peaking at 1.5 million tons a year in the 1990s then falling to a record low of 686,000 tons in 2009, during the years of the crisis the German suppliers saw an approximately 10% annual increase in sales to the Italian ceramic industry. This was slightly higher than the growth in production of porcelain tile, one of the product types that can be manufactured using German raw materials.

During the extremely cordial meeting, the participants discussed current cooperation and the potential for further growth in terms of additional quarrying capacity and the availability of rail carriers.

This initiative is part of Confindustria Ceramica’s efforts to constantly monitor supply dynamics for the benefit of the sector. Ukraine, currently the leading supplier of white clays for the sector, continues to be unaffected by supply issues (in terms of volumes, continuity or global supply costs) in spite of the fact that the Russia-Ukraine conflict involves a number of areas where raw materials destined for the Italian ceramic industry are quarried.