The nodes: insufficient duties and too high costs

The duties of between 30 and 70 per cent imposed by Brussels on imports of Chinese ceramics have considerably reduced the effects of dumping by the Asian giant's producers. The real danger now is unfair competition from Indian companies. Not subject to stringent labour and environmental protection regulations, they can move on the global market with a particularly aggressive pricing policy that the excessively low duties introduced by the EU (ranging between 6 and 9%) are unable to neutralise. "The European market is in danger of being overwhelmed," says Filippo Manuzzi, chairman of the Confindustria Ceramics Trade Relations Commission. By the end of the year, in fact, the USA is expected to raise the barrier of retroactive duties above 300%. "This will help us on the American market," Manuzzi explains, "but it will create enormous difficulties for us on the European one, because Indian producers will seek outlets in the EU area. We are not protectionists and we believe in the free market, but competition must be on equal terms'.

There is great alarm in the domestic ceramic industry. It is estimated that the Indian product reaches the market at an average price of around 6 euro per square metre while the Italian one, characterised by a high added value, instead travels at 15.50 euro. The difference lies in the wide gap separating the Asian country from Europe in terms of labour costs (and workers' rights), sustainability and corporate social responsibility. A difference for which all European producers are paying the price, first and foremost - along with the Italians - the Spanish ones. Today, European consumption of ceramics is just under one billion square metres, satisfied by European production.

"If it were to grow by opening new gates to Indian producers," Manuzzi observes, "the cost to be paid, with the strong environmental impact of transport, would also be very high in terms of sustainability. Not to mention the heavy economic repercussions for a sector that is the standard-bearer of Made in Italy in the world and exports over 80% of its production. In the first half of 2024 alone, the value of cross-border sales exceeded 3.15 billion, with a slight drop compared to the same period in 2023 (-4.2%). This repositioning is due to many factors.

"The energy bill has decreased but is still too high," says Vittorio Borelli, vice chairman of Confindustria Ceramica, "and there are other cost items exposed to speculative flare-ups and inflation, as well as difficulties in accessing credit: it will be important to put our hands on interest rates to cool them down. Then there is the issue of insufficient infrastructure that undermines our international competitiveness. After years of double-digit growth, the situation is a bit more complicated. We expect a recovery from the second half of 2025, when rates will be lowered'. As far as markets are concerned, the EU area remains the leading outlet, with exports in the first six months of the year close to 1.5 billion. This is followed by North and South America and Asia. Demand from Australia and Oceania is growing.