فصلنامه گزیده دنیای سرامیک
پیاپی 49 (آبان 1400)

The ninth edition of the study entitled “World production and consumption of ceramic tiles” produced by MECS / Acimac Research Centre is due to be published in October. Consisting of almost 300 pages of charts, tables and commentary, the study provides detailed analysis of the trends occurring over the ten-year period up to 2020 in terms of industry, markets, per capita consumption and export flows in geographical macro-regions and in the 76 largest tile producer, consumer, exporter and importer countries. It also includes forecasts for 2021 and for the five-year period to 2025. The major new feature of this year’s study is the in-depth revision of the 10-year historical series for tile production and consumption in China based on the extensive market analysis conducted by MECS and involving more than a thousand companies operating in 27 Chinese regions. The study, which culminated in the 800-page publication “China: Ceramic tiles and slabs”, includes data on production capacity, number of lines, types of products and investments underway or planned during the current three-year period for each company. The revision of the Chinese data led to a parallel update of the overall time series.

Following a poor – albeit less negative than expected – performance in 2020, by the end of the first quarter of 2021 the Italian tile industry had already made up the lost ground and surpassed pre-pandemic levels. As Confindustria Ceramica Chairman Giovanni Savorani explains, the recovery began in the second half of last year, significantly mitigating the slump in sales experienced during the lockdown period.

Today Brazil is one of the top world players in the ceramic tile market. It is the third largest producer in the world with a production capacity of 1.2 billion sqm, the second largest consumer market and the sixth in the export ranking with sales to more than 110 countries. The industry is represented by Anfacer, the Brazilian Association of Manufacturers of Ceramic Tiles, Sanitary Ware and Related Products, which elected its new chairman on March 31. The successor of Manfredo Gouvêa Júnior (Elizabeth) is Benjamin Ferreira Neto, born in Rio Claro 59 years ago, and part of the third generation of a family with a strong presence in the ceramic tile sector, today running Cerâmica Alfagrês whose plant is based in Ipeúna (Sao Paulo), in the Santa Gertrudes ceramic cluster.

Pamesa’s seemingly unstoppable growth continues year after year, even in the midst of a global pandemic. The growth trend is confirmed by the results achieved in 2020 and the forecasts for 2021 announced on 2 June by Fernando Roig, owner of the Spanish ceramic group, Europe’s top tile manufacturer and the seventh largest producer in the world with the brands Pamesa, TAU, Geotiles, Navarti, Prismacer, Ecoceramic, Cottocer and Compacglass.

RAK Ceramics, one of the largest ceramics brands in the world, announced its financial results for the quarter ended 31 March 2021, which confirm the return to a state of steady growth. The company surpassed pre-pandemic levels of operation, with record levels of revenue and profitability. This is very good news for the Ras-al-Khaimah-based Group after a challenging 2020, when total revenues dropped by 8.7% to AED 2.35 billion (approx. 521 million euros) due to the COVID-19 lockdowns in the second quarter and despite the accelerated recovery in the third and fourth quarters.

The growth in environmental awareness in recent years is pushing up demand for more sustainable products, with younger consumers in particular becoming increasingly attentive to environmental issues and the future of the planet. National governments and international bodies are imposing ever stricter requirements on the ceramic industry in terms of environmental emissions and recycling capacity (as in the case of the EU Emissions Trading system).

The efficient use of heat in ceramic plants is a goal shared by all companies in the sector. At present, the most important machines for the purposes of heat recovery are kilns and cogeneration systems.

In recent years, sustainability has become a major goal for industry as part of its commitment to developing a circular economy capable of optimising productivity while carefully controlling and recovering energy and raw materials. In a B2B market, the companies that pay the most attention to green issues are also the ones that are the most attractive to customers, who are increasingly aware of the added value that environmental sustainability can bring to their businesses in terms of competitiveness.

Today industry has a clear duty to pursue the goal of environmental sustainability. But rather than making vague ecological state-ments and promoting generic green awareness, companies must adopt concrete, effective actions that produce measurable re-sults. For years System Ceramics has been using part of its R&D investments to make an effective contribution to these issues. Lower CO2 emissions, monitoring of energy consumption and the reuse of waste are all tangible and verifiable results of these efforts. One example is Superfast, the latest System Ceramics technology for ceramic pressing designed to guarantee high levels of performance while caring for the environment and bringing considerable benefits in terms of energy savings.

Now, more than ever, consumers are aware of the microorganisms around them, and the roles they play in their day-to-day lives, but few enjoy the chore of regular and meticulous cleaning. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that there has been an upshift in demand for tiles that are easier to clean and protected from microbes to keep longstanding issues such as mould and mildew at bay. In recent years, this has ignited more and more interest in the use of anti-microbial additives in the sector as a built-in strategy to accompany regular cleaning, creating fresher and more durable tiles. Some manufacturers have turned to coating their tiles in modified forms of TiO2, however, the safety of these novel TiO2 technologies has not been properly validated. Consumers and manufacturers need to be aware of the risks that they may be taking when exposed to this new class of TiO2 technology indoors.

Crystalline silica has long been a focus of attention of European bodies (including the European Commission) and international organisations (IARC1, ACGIH2 and others). Although a number of accredited studies suggest that the substance is carcinogenic in particular work contexts, IARC itself has pointed out that carcinogenicity has not been found in all the industrial situations exam-ined. At a European level, the reference legislation is the European Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive - 2004/37/EC (known as the CMD Directive), amended 4 years ago by Directive 2017/2398. Rather than bringing the chemical substance “Crystalline Silica” within the scope of the directive, the amendment focused on “work involving expo-sure to respirable crystalline silica dust generated by a work process”. In any case, the legislation confirms the val-ue of 0.1 mg/m3 as the exposure limit for Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) dust, measured over a reference period of 8 hours.

Following the darkest year of the Covid-19 crisis, the world construction market has been seeing a strong recovery in 2021, with growth reaching record levels (+6.4%, higher even than pre-pandemic figures). The growth trend is expected to continue strongly in 2022 (+3.5%) and then drop back to levels more in line with those of the last decade, fluctuating at around +3%. These forecasts, presented by Cresme Ricerche during the ACIMAC members’ meeting on 10 September, reflect the general global economic recovery and the initial positive impact of the Italian government’s Superbonus tax in-centive scheme on the national building industry.

Aged effect facing bricks are in strong demand from designers and architects not just for projects to restore historical buildings, but also for the renova-tion of rural buildings and for creating visually striking indoor walls. Reinterpreting historical styles in contemporary projects is one of the most important aesthetic functions of facing bricks, but to do this they must be able to faithfully reproduce a natural timeworn look.

Firing is a crucial stage of the brick production process during which the products assume their final and irreversible state. Kiln technology has evolved considerably over the years, both technically and in terms of environmental sustainability. Enormous progress has been made since 1858 when Friedrich Eduard Hoffmann designed and patented the first circular tunnel kiln (later models used an elliptical design) in which a calculated subdivision of volumes made it possible to perform firing continuously while simultaneously unloading and reloading the kiln.

The Girls’ Hostel Block at the St. Andrews Institute of Technology and Management in the northern Indian city of Gurugram, de-signed by the New Delhi-based architecture practice Zero Energy Design Lab, is a model of sustainability and energy efficient design. The 2,300 square metre building accommodates approximately 130 students and includes ancillary spaces such as a pantry, recreational areas and outdoor social spaces.