On Monday Cevisama, the tile fair, returns to Feria Valencia and it does so in the midst of the energy crisis, which conditions this edition a lot. Three years later, a pandemic and a war in Europe through, the Spanish tile production sector is reunited as of Monday. The events of recent years have a direct impact on the sector that continues to be immersed in ERTE processes (since January 2022, 11,752 employees affected) in numerous companies and this will also be noted at the fair.
In fact, after the almost 900 exhibitors in the last edition, this year there will be close to 400 -with 500 signatures- and from 11 pavilions to a total of 7. All in all, the organization has launched an ambitious campaign to attract visitors with which it expects to register figures similar to those obtained in 2020.
Although, as industry sources explain, since then many things have changed. As a result of Covid-19, companies transformed their business strategies because they wanted to show their materials to the client but they could not be found in person, at fairs or mass events.
Thus, many have made large investments in the showrooms of their facilities and that is why firms such as Pamesa Cerámica celebrate these days, and until the end of next year, the Ceramic Experience, an event that will take place at the facilities themselves and during the that receives both national and international clients so that they can learn about the new market trends and the novelties of their catalogs in an event that will last until March 3.
The dates of the Pamesa Cerámica showroom will coincide in part with those of Cevisama, which it has given up attending in a "complicated" economic context, insists the Ascer employers, based in Castellón, for tile companies.
The increase in energy prices and the loss of competitiveness of the sector compared to other competitors, Italy mainly, as Ascer usually claims, reduces the accounts of the companies and the expectations of their employees, who fear jumping from ERTE to ERE in less time of the desired Throughout last year, 8 EREs were managed with 431 layoffs and only in January of this 2023, 4 more have already been added with another 331 layoffs.
Likewise, Porcelanosa, which will not be at Cevisama either, maintains the private exhibition strategy to serve its clients and has held this week, and until today, the XXIX International Exhibition of Global Architecture and Interior Design, a similar event that turns its facilities into showcase your work.
From Ascer, which does go to the fair with 47 associated companies and another 6 related associates, they argue that each company analyzes the promotional tools that "better adapt to their commercial strategy or their economic situation at all times and decide whether or not to attend to a certain fair”. But, without a doubt, the context marks the moment and it goes through complex turbulence.
In fact, the arrival of direct aid to companies remains aground, as recognized yesterday by President Ximo Puig, visiting Castelló, where he reaffirmed the position of the Consell, in favor of contemplating an exception to the law on subsidies so that Tile companies can receive this aid as soon as possible.
Thus, he also promised to find a formula in the coming days so that the sector can receive the direct aid that depends on the Consell and that those 100 million euros can be available to tile companies. "It is necessary to find a formula for exceptionality in a law that is positive, but it is obvious that precariousness in payments is not positive, but we are in an exceptional situation," he added. The Minister of Finance Arcadi Spain also met yesterday with the employers for the same reason.
Last Monday in the Senate, the Minister of Industry, Reyes Maroto, assured that the ceramic sector has at its disposal a "very important" set of measures to cushion the impact of the rise in energy prices.
He denied that the Government is neglecting the demands of the ceramic sector in Castellón, and listed the ERTE, the ICO line or direct aid, in addition to fiscal and regulatory aid. Next Tuesday, Minister Maroto returns to the Valencian Community, as she will participate in Castelló precisely in the presentation of HyVal, the Valencian Community's Hydrogen Cluster.
