[ Ceraimc Tiles ] Ceramic Tiles of Italy
Il marchio dell£§industria ceramica italiana nel mondo    
Da oltre trent'anni ¨¨ il marchio che promuove l'immagine e i contenuti dell'industria ceramica italiana sui mercati esteri: Ceramic Tiles of Italy ne sintetizza tradizione, qualit¨¤, innovazione e creativit¨¤. Immagine istituzionale dell'industria ceramica italiana, il marchio tutela e diffonde la conoscenza delle aziende aderenti ad Assopiatrelle e dei loro prodotti in diversi momenti, quali la presenza a fiere, campagne promozionali e pubblicitarie, partecipazioni istituzionali, iniziative che tendono a rafforzare l'azione delle singole imprese sui mercati internazionali.
Ceramic Tiles of Italy rappresenta la volont¨¤ dell'industria italiana delle piastrelle di ceramica nel diffondere e promuovere all'estero una nuova valenza della piastrella di ceramica, che da prodotto per l'industria delle costruzioni ¨¨ ora un qualificante complemento d'arredo, in grado di creare un elevato valore aggiunto a questi prodotti del made in Italy grandemente apprezzati dal pubblico internazionale.

[ Ceraimc Tiles ] What Every Retail Floor Covering Store Should Know About Ceramic Tile, But Was Afraid to Ask
Are you in the retail floor covering sales business? Have you thought about selling ceramic tile but were hesitant? Customers visit your store to select finishing materials for their home. Why let them escape to another venue to select their ceramic products?
Perhaps the tile industry looks different to you if you've been used to selling carpeting and sheet goods. There are some reasons. The products you've been selling have been likely made in the US by a handful of producers. With ceramic tile there are thousands of producers all over the world vying for your business. That's one reason that you are attending Coverings.
There are many products on the market. All of them are not suitable for all applications and a simple rating system like the PAR rating for carpets is not practical. Let me provide some guidance for you to consider about this marketplace....More...

[ Ceraimc Tiles ] State of the U.S. Ceramic Tile Industry
The ceramic tile industry has experienced a period of extraordinary growth in the past ten years. Sales in the United States have increased from less than one billion square feet in 1990 to about 2.3 billion in 2000-an increase of over 130%. However this year began with a decline in sales in the first half of about 2% and the tragic event of September 11th has increased the uncertainty of future sales.
There are over 40 countries that produce ceramic tile and report their output with some degree of reliability. Tile output in the year 2000 exceeded 50 billion square feet. We estimate the worldwide capacity to exceed 60 billion square feet per year. That's 10 square feet for every man, woman, and child on this planet. And high volume plant capacity is still being added with older, low output plants being idled. This portends an increase in capacity in the near future with continued price pressure.
Meanwhile virtually every tile consuming country is experiencing an economic slowdown, greater than the United States. That makes our market a juicy target for tile exporters. The U.S.A. has few barriers to trade therefore imports have gobbled up nearly 75% of our market. Exporting countries are aggressively pricing their product to penetrate our market. This price pressure has led to the recent closing of three ceramic tile factories in the United States and the reduction of the output of many more....More...

[ Ceraimc Tiles ] CERAMIC TILE FOR GENIUSES AND DUMMIES
Presented by Robert E. Daniels, Executive Director Emeritus of TCNA
(Updated September 2005)
Originally we thought of titling this session "CERAMIC TILE FOR DUMMIES" to pick up on the latest book title craze. However I felt that no one would admit to being a ceramic tile dummy and there would be no attendees. We hear it all the time: "My father (uncle or cousin) has been in the business for 50 years and he always did it this way, and taught it to me. It must be right." Or: "I know what I'm doing and don't need any more information."
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[ Ceraimc Tiles ] the Tile Council of America (TCA)
Established in 1945 as the Tile Council of America (TCA), the Tile Council was created with the sole purpose of expanding the ceramic tile market in the United States. TCA's research laboratory has developed and patented many innovative installation materials which have improved ceramic tile installation.
In 2003, the TCA became the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) to reflect its membership expansion to all of North America - Canada, Mexico and the United States.
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[ Ceraimc Tiles ] RAPID GROWTH IN TURKISH CERAMIC TILE SECTOR
With its production over 180 million m2, Turkey is the 5th leading ceramic tile producer in the world and 3rd largest in Europe.
The ceramic production tradition that started 8.000 years ago on Anatolian soil, was carried to the industrial dimension starting from the second half of the 20th century and the Turkish ceramic tile sector has succeeded especially by the investments it made after 1990. Today Turkey is one of the leading countries in ceramic tile production all around the world.
With its production over 180 million m2, Turkey is the 5th leading ceramic tile producer in the world and 3rd largest in Europe. Ceramic tile production of Turkey constitutes 3.5% of world production and 11% of European production. Turkey is the 8th largest market in the world regarding the ceramic tile consumption. 99% of annual domestic demand of 110 million m2 is satisfied by domestic production....More...

[ Ceraimc Tiles ] PROFILE of Italian Trade Commission
The Ceramic Tile Center of the Italian Trade Commission in New York was founded by the Istituto nazionale per il Commercio Estero (I.C.E.) in collaboration with Assopiastrelle, the Italian Association of Ceramic Tile & Refractory Manufacturers. Now in its 27th year of operation, it remains a clearinghouse of information on Italian ceramic tile as well as a major link between Italian manufacturers and the American market. Tile services range from seminars to participation in tradeshows to our most popular function, an online Tile Search, which allows users to search our database of Italian tile manufacturers and locate U.S. and Canadian dealers.