Wall and floor tiles

Wall and floor ceramic tiles constitute the biggest sector in turnover among European ceramic industries with total sales in 2009 estimated around € 9 billion. Although Italy and Spain are by far the two biggest producers in the EU, significant production also exists in Poland, Portugal, Germany, France, Bulgaria, the UK, Romania, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Hungary.

The European ceramic tiles industry has traditionally demonstrated worldwide leadership in design and innovation. It continues to set the trend in new designs and functionalities for ceramic tiles. One third of the production in ceramic tiles is exported outside of the EU, resulting in a largely positive trade balance with exports representing in value around four times the EU imports in ceramic tiles.   

Ceramic tiles are synthetic products resulting of various combinations of many natural raw materials. They cover a wide range of product categories to satisfy the needs in technical and aesthetic properties for both traditional and modern indoor and outdoor environments. Ceramic tiles have many functional assets contributing notably to a better hygiene and safety. Thanks to their resistance to light exposure, chemical attack and their ease of maintenance, ceramic tiles play an important role in the sustainability of buildings.   

Ceramic tiles manufacturers are represented within Cerame-Unie through the European Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Federation (CET). At European level, CET’s main areas of interest are in trade (market access, trade defence, intellectual property and counterfeiting ...), environment and energy (Industrial pollution, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, energy efficiency ...) and standardisation (CEN and ISO).  At international level, CET holds the secretariat of the World Ceramic Tiles Forum.