The ceramic sector is one of the strongest industrial sectors in Europe nowadays! The ceramic European Industry includes some of the world’s leading companies and SMEs in the manufacturing world. In a total, the ceramic sector represents an annual production of approximately 25% of the global production. That is over 30 billion euros a year and a total of 200,000 direct jobs in Europe alone.
The ceramic sector has a long and great history in Europe. The first leading manufacturing countries which continue to this day are Italy, Germany, Spain, France, The UK, Portugal, and Austria. Other countries that have played an important role in ceramic production and the evolution of the ceramic sector have been the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary.
These countries have really strong ceramic sectors with a very dynamic presence all across the globe. Their exports include, apart from other European countries, countries all around the world from America to Asia.
A striking number of 30% of the EU ceramics industry in export-oriented and sold in countries outside the European marketplace. In both a domestic and international level, it would be safe to say that European ceramic production and the ceramic sector are very competitive. However every production sector has its problems and the ceramic sector is not problem-free.
Over the past few years, and in particular during the last decade, there has been a rise in low-cost products from new competitors in the ceramic sector. As a result, production has decreased and the profit of the sector is not what it used to be. New markets and new companies and beginning to appear in the senary and the gap that is created between price and quality is now more visible than ever.
The ceramic sector still constitutes a very important part of the industry, however. With the world moving at an insanely fast pace and with new technologies emerging on the daily, it is now easier to maintain a relatively low manufacturing cost thus decreasing selling prices and still be able to maintain high-quality products.
There is a lot of information about the ceramic sector regarding both the industry, history, and current situations and conditions. Because the sector is so important it is supported by the EU for innovation and evolution. BIMclay is an Erasmus+ funded project focusing on researching the most suitable placement methods for the main clay products being used across Europe, analyze the results, select the best practices and improve them. Also, it seeks to develop an interactive BIM tool and promote the placement methods that prolong the life of clay products, while making all this information and materials available online for easy access by the stakeholders.
For more information visit the project’s official website and learn about the BIMclay products that can help you understand and use the ceramic sector thus becoming part of the industry itself.
