Sales bounce back after the 2020 downturn. Countdown to Cersaie | by Andrea Serri

In mid-February, the organisers of Cersaie revealed the dates for the 2021 edition of the show, confirming its customary late-September scheduling while at the same time announcing an important new feature. While the 38th Cersaie will take place as a traditional in-person event in the Bologna exhibition centre from 27 September to 1 October, the virtual event Cersaie Digital will be hosted from 20 September to 8 October on the cersaie.it platform and will offer important new opportunities to both exhibitors and visitors. This new digital event is in tune with the times and will help spread knowledge of Cersaie and increase participation in the show.

During the six months between now and Cersaie, the forecasts published by Prometeia suggest we will see a rebound in world ceramic tile consumption after last year’s pandemic-driven downturn. The sales that were lost in 2020 – a contraction of almost one billion square metres concentrated primarily in Asia and with Europe faring better than other parts of the world – are expected to be regained within two years, but at a different pace in different continents. This recovery will largely be driven by the greater attention we are devoting to our living spaces and the consequent surge in renovation projects aimed at rehabilitating, sanitising and improving the living standards of our homes.

“Five ways Italian tile can improve the safety of your home” is an article by Caroline Bush describing five key aspects of the selection and use of ceramic tiles. The author begins her article by discussing the health and hygiene benefits of ceramic tile and its ability to improve indoor living quality. She then explains how easy it is to replace other kinds of floor coverings with ceramic tiles, which have the added benefit of durability and can be used for radiant floor heating, a particularly advantageous solution in terms of energy savings. Added to this, ceramic has two very important fields of application: kitchen countertops and doors, which exploit the material’s inertia and resistance to scratching and cutting; and outdoor paving, an area of use that has become more important than ever during the pandemic.

These applications mark the culmination of the decades-long history of industrial ceramics, a period of time in which the material has always succeeded in reinventing itself while remaining true to its essence. This theme was discussed at the La Repubblica Press Café with guest Massimo Iosa Ghini.

 

March 2021