Three years later, the tile sector found itself again yesterday at Cevisama, with a heavy load on its shoulders that it did not foreshadow in the also fateful 2020, as the energy crisis after the war in Europe is giving the sector enormous headaches.
Added to the increase in the energy bill is the effect on sales, since according to figures from the employers’ Association of Ceramic Tile and Floor Tile Manufacturers (Ascer), demand in some important markets has suffered due to the rise in prices and the situation inflationary and last year volume sales fell by 13%. For this reason, the sector asks for direct aid and criticizes, as it also did yesterday, that the central government “does not provide it.”
“It is a purely political question. They don’t want to make it easier for us to receive aid,” said Alberto Echavarría, Ascer’s general secretary.
He also responded to the proposal that the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, had made minutes before at Feria Valencia, to double the loans that the Institut Valencià de Finances (IVF) has available up to now to 100 million euros, with a tranche discount of up to 10% and lower interest rates. “They are credits, not aid. A loan is not the solution”, said Echavarría, who regretted that the Consell has to look for formulas to resolve the situation.
Echavarría suggested immobility of the economic area of ??the Government – “I don’t know if it is the Economy, the Treasury or the Presidency” -, although he stressed that in the Ministry of Industry “they understand our situation and there is no problem”.
The general secretary of the ceramic companies explained that the condition of payment to suppliers in less than 60 days imposed by the Delinquency Law (companies that do not meet the payment deadlines cannot access a public subsidy or be a collaborating entity in their management ) cannot be fulfilled today.
He regretted that “the Ministry itself knows that the average payment for Spanish companies today is 95 days.” In the meeting that the cluster held with Minister Nadia Calviño last January in Castelló, they already told her that they needed direct aid of 450 million euros to the industry to be expedited.
Echavarría’s statements came after the official inauguration, in which the head of the Consell insisted that “in exceptional moments, exceptional measures are needed.” The president of the CEV, Salvador Navarro, also recalled that this is a “delicate moment” and asked the Administrations to “assist the companies”.
In the groups, they commented, for example, on the absence of frit and enamel companies, who have preferred not to attend the fair to save costs. All in all, the atmosphere was one of reunion and international commitment, as Salvador Navarro wanted to point out, who recalled that Cevisama is the main event that attracts foreign visitors and that he closed his speech with a “Welcome to Cevisama”.
Hosbec spoke yesterday of its effects on hotel occupancy in the city and metropolitan area, pointing out that the hotels are from yesterday until next Wednesday with an average occupancy of 90% and those closest to the fair have even hung the sign of “complete”.
The metropolitan area and at the end of the week (Thursday and Friday) hotel occupancy is at 80%, since a large part of the professional visits are concentrated in the first days of the event, the same sources point out. “The data is once again what the pandemic disrupted,” they pointed out from Hosbec. From Feria Valencia they explained the effort they have made to attract a larger public, sending up to four times more VIP invitations -and obtaining confirmation for them- than in the last edition of the fair.
However, yesterday there was density in the accesses, in the corridors there was a lot of suitcase and a significant presence of international attendees, understandable since the sector exports to 187 countries. “We are satisfied at the end of this first day,” said Carmen Álvarez, director of Cevisama, yesterday. “Different languages ??have been heard at the fair, business has been seen at the stands. It is only the beginning of a great fair”, she added.
This Tuesday, Tile of Spain-Ascer once again schedules its traditional international press conference in which the main data for 2022 and promotional activities will be presented, as well as design trends, which yesterday were the most commented on at the fairgrounds. Large-format pieces, ceramics with built-in LEDs, special pastel-colored pieces, as well as innovative bathroom proposals, microcements to reduce waste, materials that reduce the carbon footprint or industrialized construction balconies that are already changing the concept of building, are on display.