The increasingly global nature of the ceramic tile manufacturing sector has been underlined recently by major investments in Pakistan, Indonesia, and Algeria. As with so many modern tile factories, much of the production equipment has been sourced from Italian manufacturers.

Ghani Ceramics of Pakistan has purchased a second FCC kiln from Sacmi to produce large-size ceramic tiles. With a length of 359.9 metres and width of 2,950 mm, this kiln is set to produce 25,000 sq. metres per day of porcelain tiles. It will be fed by two Sacmi PHC 8200 ‘Red Edition’ presses, the most powerful in the range. The new line will focus on 600 by 1,200, 750 by 1,500, 800 by 1,600, and 900 by 1,800mm formats.

Meanwhile the long-established Indonesian tile manufacturer, Arwana Ceramics has also chosen Italian technology for an investment which aims to increase annual capacity from 68 to 75 million sq. metres. This has extended the long-standing collaboration with System Ceramics and Sacmi. An extensive suite of automation systems has been supplied by System Ceramics including a new sorting and packaging system called SpeedWrap which will be the first in the world. System Ceramics is also supplying a Qualitron quality control system. The presses for the new line are supplied by Sacmi. The new capacity willl enable Arwana to add 800 by 800 and 600 by 1,200mm to a product portfolio which currently has 600 by 600mm as the largest format.

The ceramics market in Algeria has grown strongly in the last few years, and Gruppo B&T has become firmly established in the country in this period. A good example is NCM Céramique Si – Mustapha, an Algerian ceramic tile company founded in 2018 in partnership with Gruppo B&T. The Italian machinery giant created a complete plant built on the promise of outstanding performance, flexibility, and continuous after-sales support. Now, seven years later, NCM is doubling its production capacity and has chosen Gruppo B&T for its expansion project. The group will supply Tornado squaring systems, Wizard automatic sorting and palletising line, and Projecta digital decoration, with the 12-bar PRO Plus printer and the Dryfix 112 technology.

These three stories confirm that while some question the long-term future of the ceramic tile sector, many others are ramping up investment to stay competitive and open up fresh markets world-wide

Source: Ceramic World Web, Italy