Coverings kicks off, Italian ceramics take the stage in the US

It will be mid-afternoon in Italy when the ribbon will be cut at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, for the most important overseas trade fair for the Italian ceramic industry. The 35th edition of Coverings that opens today will be the litmus test of prospects on the third largest market - but first in terms of growth rates - for a Made in Italy that depends for over 80% on exports.

The Sassuolo district is exhibiting at Coverings with more than 80 brands, in the heart of the Italian Pavilion organised by Confindustria Ceramica, co-owner of the American show together with Ascer (Spanish ceramics), TNCA (Tile Council of North America), NTCA (the American contractors) and CTDA (the overseas distributors' association). An important test in an American market that, despite the contraction in 2024 (-5.1% consumption and -3.5% ceramic imports), is showing signs of recovery in the early months of 2025, with Italian exports up 15.9% in volume and +11.9% in US dollars, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

"The main issue today is the uncertainty over duties," emphasises Vittorio Borelli, vice chairman of Confindustria Ceramica and managing director of Fincibec, who is leaving for Orlando. "In June, in fact, the suspension announced by Trump will expire and, if no agreement is reached between Washington and Brussels, the additional cross-sectional duty of a further 10% will also come into force on Italian ceramics, which would be added to the 8.5% we have always been used to and the 10% imposed at the beginning of April. Oday more that passes without a solution weighs on the decisions of American distributors'. The climate of uncertainty is in fact pushing many operators to stockpile, swelling imports in the first few months, as confirmed by data not only from Italy but also from Spanish ceramists, with the fear that a negative rebound will follow in subsequent quarters.

Italian tile manufacturers - 125 factories and more than 18 thousand employees, 85% of whom are concentrated in the Sassuolo district, with a 2024 production of 370 million square metres and approximately 6 billion euros in sales - cannot risk losing the US market: in 2024 our country confirmed its position as the leading exporter to the US in terms of value, with 707 million dollars in sales, equal to 29.2% of total imports, and an average price of almost 25 dollars per square metre. This leadership is based on quality, design and sustainability, as confirmed by the new "I choose responsibility" campaign launched by Ceramics of Italy. "To tell the truth, we expected to be exempt from the extra American duties," says Borelli, "considering that we have a top-of-the-range product that does not compete with local production and that the USA is not self-sufficient in ceramic production. Besides the fact that we have already been producing in the American market for years through local factories and partnerships with their companies'.

Until 2 May there will be 1,100 exhibitors of tiles, natural stones and hard wall surfaces at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando on 360,000 square metres of exhibition space and over 26,000 professionals expected from the sector, including distributors, retailers, designers, architects, builders and installers. There is a rich educational programme on topics such as sustainability, technological innovation and design trends, in which Made in Italy has always set the global standard. And these are themes that the US market is now also approaching, increasingly attentive to Leed parameters and green building logics.