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Companies,News & Markets

Tile International 1/2018 14

ITALGRANITI GROUP OPENS FIRST FLAGSHIP STORE IN MILAN

During the course of the Salone del Mo-bile 2018, Italgraniti Group will be inau-gurating its first flagship store, in Milan - Via Statuto 21, marking a milestone in the evolution of a company that is still investing in latest-generation manufac-turing technologies.Designed by Style Center Milan, the de-sign firm with which Italgraniti has been working for several years, the store occu-pies 165 square meters spread over two levels, and showcases the company's collections aimed at architects and in-terior designers. It also serves as a meet-ing point for exchanging views and ex-perimenting with the new design languages that ceramic is adopting and Italgraniti is interpreting.As visitors enter the Italgraniti showroom in Via Statuto, their attention is caught by an array of 160x320 large-format panels, with a thickness of 6mm, be-longing to the Mega project, which evoke the most exclusive marble, the most sought-after stone and the au-thentic energy of metals, thanks to the new Metaline collection, which is setting new aesthetic standards. An area is also dedicated to the latest collections that

convey the natural essence of wood, to create cosy, welcoming environments with a contemporary atmosphere, where vintage spirit brings a warm, nat-ural feel.An internal staircase connects the show-room to the areas set aside for meetings with designers, which includes a specif-ic work area equipped with all the nec-essary resources.

a floor covering in public places. Finally, in the machinery sector, Kerajet was honoured for having developed the first printhead for digital tile decoration capable of using inks with micrometric dimensions.

TORRECID, FERRO SPAIN, PERONDA AND KERAJET WIN ALFA DE ORO 2018 AWARDS

The presentation ceremony for the Alfa de Oro 2018 awards, an initiative organ-ised by the Spanish Ceramic and Glass Society (SECV) to honour the most inno-vative technologies developed in the Castellón ceramic cluster, was held dur-ing the recent Cevisama. The awards went to Torrecid, Ferro, Peronda and Ke-rajet, whose projects were selected by the jury for their outstanding technical and scientific characteristics coupled with technological innovation and envi-ronmental sustainability. Torrecid received the award for its Ecoink-Cid technology, a new range of water-based digital glazes and inks for the full digital decoration process. These non-polluting materials bring significant improvements for production processes as well as environmental benefits due to their significant reduction in emissions.Ferro Spain won the recognition for a new line of inkjet inks with a catalytic function capable of separating oxygen from the air through the use and appli-cation of ceramic membranes in oxy-combustion processes. Peronda received the Alfa de Oro award for a line of tiles with a glossy finish pro-duced using glazes and grits that gen-erate a non-slip surface ideal for use as

INALCO STARTS UP SECOND PLANT FOR LARGE-SIZE PORCELAIN TILE PRODUCTION

Inalco, a leading Spanish ceramic tile manufacturer with over 40 years’ experi-ence in the business, announced in January the start-up of a second plant for the production of extra-large porce-lain panels at its facility in Alcora (Cas-tellón). The new line uses cutting-edge H2O IPLUS Full Digital technology and al-lows for greater flexibility in terms of thick-nesses and sizes. Along with latest-gen-eration systems, the company has chosen to use sustainable materials such as water-based glazes for tile dec-oration. These glazes mark a major step forward for the tile industry in terms of sustainability and care for the environ-ment. This latest investment is aimed at boost-ing production of surfaces that are al-ready successfully established in inter-national markets. One of these is the Itopker Countertops range of porcelain slabs in a 1500x3200 mm size and thick-ness 12 mm. Designed for the kitchen,

furnishing and interior design segments, they attracted much interest at the re-cent KBIS show in Orlando, Florida. In the thin tile and panel segment (6 mm), In-alco offers its Slimmker range available in sizes 150x300 cm, 150x150 cm and 100x250 cm for floors and walls. Thanks to the company’s global sales network and internationalisation policy, Inalco products are sold in 120 coun-tries worldwide.

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15 Tile International 1/2018

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP AT NORDDEUTSCHE STEINGUT

Norddeutsche Steingut (Bremen, Ger-many), a company belonging to Ger-man ceramic giant Steuler Fliesen Group, appointed Rüdiger Grau as a member of its board of directors on 18 December last year. After graduating in geology with a specialisation in ceram-

ic materials, Grau gained extensive ex-perience in the ceramic industry in Ger-many, initially as managing director of Creaton and then as CEO of Erlus. In 2014 he joined the Steuler Fliesen Group as managing director of Kerateam.Rüdiger Grau takes over from Karl-Heinz Fabel, who is retiring after 13 years and leaving the Board of Directors of Nord-deutsche Steingut. During these years Fabel has played a major role in driving the German company’s development, especially in terms of innovation and in-vestments. His achievements include in-troduction of the first inkjet printer for tile decoration in Germany as well as the first Continua+ line for large size ceramic tile production, which was installed at Nordceram. Grau has taken over the helm of Nord-deutsche Steingut alongside Stefan Zei-dler (shown together in the photo) since the beginning of 2018, the company’s 150th anniversary year.

NEW HQ FOR PROFILITEC

Back in the 1980s, Vicenza-based Profilitec, a manufacturer of profiles, joints and flooring installation systems, was the first company to promote specific profiles for the ceramic industry. Its Chairman recently made the following announcement: "On the strength of double-digit growth in 2017,

continuously increasing sales volumes and a constantly expanding product range, Profilitec SpA moved into a new "home" in January. Having acquired a new logistics and production hub, we now have twice as much space as we had before, enabling us to continue the process of growth and development we embarked on in the far-off days of 1966, which has made us a major player on the biggest international markets.We have always seen it as a valuable asset to have our company based in It-aly, and as we expand our headquar-ters, we are only moving a few kilometres from our previous base and staying in the province of Vicenza, at 3 Via Scotte, Isola Vicentina, thus safeguarding the know-how we have built up in more than 50 years in business."Company Chairman Roderick Egli con-tinued: "After opening our American subsidiary, Profilitec Corp., in Plattsburgh, New York state, in July 2016, this is the second building block underpinning Profilitec's growth and reinforcement. We are a highly export-driven company, but this investment demonstrates our bond with Italy and its production system, which has always been a crucible of world-class technological innovation and design."(for more information, visit www.profi-litec.com)

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Tile International 1/2018 16

PAMESA GROUP POSTS 26% TURNOVER GROWTH IN 2017

2017 was an exceptional year for Pame-sa Group. Consolidated turnover soared by 26% to 584 million euros compared to 464 million euros in 2016, a result that sur-passed the group’s own forecasts of 520 million euros. Pre-tax profits totalled 51.1 million euros (13% up on the 45.2 million euros of 2016), an increase achieved through higher sales volumes along with economies of scale and improvements in productivity and energy efficiency. To-tal ceramic tile sales reached 72 million square metres (compared to 68 million sq.m in 2016), with an export share of 73% (52.5 million sq.m). In 2017 the group led by Fernando Roig also made record investments of 63 million euros (bringing total investments since 2014 to 183 million euros). These largely served to increase the production and logistic capacity of the facilities of Tau Cerami-ca, purchased in May 2016, where a fourth kiln was recently installed and a fifth is due to be started up in the spring. The group has also seen a significant in-crease in total number of employees – 1,738 at the end of 2017 compared to 1,369 in December 2016. Pamesa Em-presarial Group also operates in the spray-dried raw materials, chemical products and energy sectors and in

2018 aims to post a consoli-dated turnover of more than 630 million euros.

DR TECNICA PUBLISHES NEW CATALOGUE

Having recently launched its new web-

PORCELANOSA: 25TH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN

The 25th edition of the International Exhi-bition of Architecture and Interior De-sign, held by Porcelanosa at its head-quarters in Vila-real, Spain, to present the latest products of its eight brands, was a huge success.The new products included Par-Ker For-est, a ceramic interpretation of wood flooring; Carnival, a latest-generation range of kitchens; Mertens, a series of bathroom furnishing collections by Ga-madecor; Sydney, a metallic wall cover-ing by Venis; and the wood or stone ef-fects of L'Antic Colonial.Systempool, meanwhile, showcased a range of new colours and collections made with KRION® Solid Surface acrylic stone, plus a number of designer pieces such as the Tona shower column by Foster+Partners and the new mirror from the Pure collection by Valencia-based Yonoh.Lastly, Urbatek and Noken Porcelanosa Bathrooms displayed a number of futur-istic pieces, while Butech, the brand spe-cialising in construction systems, showed off its developments in wall coverings, decorative profiles and the installation of façades.

site, containing the full specifications of all its systems, DR Tecnica, a manufactur-er of display systems for ceramics, based in Fiorano Modenese, recently complet-ed the restyling of its image with the publication of a new general cata-logue. Featuring smart, easy-to-use, easy-to-consult graphics, the catalogue presents the company's full product range. In particular, DR Tecnica has ex-tended its traditional Panels and Pack-aging segments with a new range of metal display units. The new catalogue showcases the following collections:-M- Line: dedicated entirely to the metal-built line, which includes models for large formats as well as more traditional display systems. Practical and function-al, it features simple, elegant design.- Space Wall: a line of multi-function

display walls that can be equipped with a wide range of accessories, de-signed to display products to best ef-fect by optimising the use of space.

- Hi Tech and Tile Shop: two specific lines for complete showroom outfitting, including modular technical counters and tile libraries, all with countless fin-ishes and unlimited scope for custom-isation, to meet the most disparate customer requirements.

- The new catalogue includes a full de-scription of the W-line range of wood-en display units, designed mainly for more tra-ditional wood products, tailored to the in-dividual needs of custom-ers.

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Tile International 1/2018 18

MATICAD PRESENTS DOMUS3D® 2018

DomuS3D® is the 3D interior design soft-ware developed by Maticad for the tile and bathroom furnishing market. With the release of the 2018 version, Do-muS3D® has become even more effec-tive and user-friendly. Thanks to a series of major updates, users can produce designs quickly and easily, by drawing upon a vast library of coverings and in-terior design complements.DomuS3D® 2018 has improved the qual-ity of its renderings and the ease with which they can be generated, by inte-grating with the latest version of the ren-dering engine V-RAY 3.6 and incorporat-ing new parameters that capture the feel of more highly textured coverings.Using the new Photo3D function, users of DomuS3D® 2018 can produce designs directly on the basis of a photo of the room to be furnished. This makes the de-sign process both quicker and smarter.Thanks to the launch of Knowledge Base, furthermore, users benefit from round-the-clock customer support. All this is designed to enhance the Do-muS3D® 2018 user experience.

KALDEWEI OPENS KALDEWEI ICONIC WORLD

Kaldewei Iconic World is the name of a new exhibition centre designed by Schmidhuber architects and built in Ahl-en (Germany) to display the multi-sen-sory world of Kaldewei to architects, de-signers and distributors.Spread over four floors, the experience revolves around the Iconic Center, which is designed to transmit the vision of the company's founder Franz Kaldewei to visitors, thanks in part to the Designers' Gallery, which provides an interactive tour of the company's collaborations with major international designers, such as Studio Sottsass Associati, Phoenix De-sign, Arik Levy, Studio Aisslinger and Anke Salomon.There is also an extensive Material Excel-lence area, which focuses on Kaldewei enamelled steel, the brand's flagship. Visitors discover the material’s distinctive qualities and potential by means of var-ious experiments, ranging from drop-ping a 7kg weight onto an enamelled shower surface, to heating a steel enam-el plate to a temperature of over 1000°C with a Bunsen burner.

"SCACCO BAGNO": THE POSTER FOR THE 36TH CERSAIE

In keeping with a now established tradi-tion, the poster for Cersaie 2018 has been chosen on the basis of the Beauti-ful Ideas competition. The winning im-age was designed by a team called White Stuff, made up of Naima Annoni, Enrica Caiello, Riccardo Piovesan and Maria Cristina Ziviani, all of whom are students at the Accademia di Brera, on the Artistic Design for Business course"Scacco Bagno" was selected because it expresses "the search for an unex-pected solution, based at the same time on a subtly ironic spirit" and was awarded the highest score of the 43 sketches submitted by students of the IUAV Venezia, Accademia Brera and the University of Bolzano."Scacco Bagno is a representation of how to play with the bathroom environ-ment: the poster is an eccentric compo-sition of the classic items used in bath-room furnishing (sanitaryware and tiles) combined in such a way as to captivate the viewer at first glance. The sanitary-ware takes the form of pawns, skilfully moved by the de-signers, in a game played out on a chess-board floor." This is how the team of young cre-atives see their work.

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Tile International 1/2018

NEW CERTIFICATION FOR LISTONE GIORDANO

Listone Giordano, a leading Italian man-ufacturer of wood flooring, has recently been awarded conformity certification for meeting the requirements for classifi-cation in formaldehyde emission class F4-star. Issued by the MLIT - the Japa-nese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism - the certification indicates fulfilment of the world's most stringent requirements governing for-maldehyde emissions, as laid down in JIS standard A 1460 and part of the broader Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS). This means that the company, based in the Umbria region of Italy, can now sup-ply wood flooring for projects that re-quire such certification, in Japan and worldwide.Listone Giordano, which is part of the Margaritelli Group, conducts rigorous checks both on the raw materials and the finished product, in order to ensure that emissions levels are significantly lower than those laid down in the most stringent European standards.

In the knowledge that wood flooring is not just for walking on, but also furnishes home environments in which small chil-dren live, Listone Giordano certifies all its surface finishes to UNI EN 71-3:2014, which is the same standard used to cer-tify the complete non-toxicity of paints for children's toys.

GERFLOR ITALIA STRIKES DEAL WITH FIGH

In the wake of its agreements with the European Handball Federation (EHF) and the International Handball Federa-tion (IHF), Gerflor Italia has now become an official partner of the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Handball (FIGH. Gerflor, the French multinational PVC flooring specialist, has been manufacturing Taraflex®, the world's most widely used sports hall floor covering, for over 70 years. The product owes its success to a perfect compromise between thickness and shock-absorption capacity, which has earned Taraflex® a starring role in major world sports events ever since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. More recently, it has also been used for the handball and volleyball courts at the Olympic Games and World Championships."We are very pleased with this partner-ship with FIGH", explained Paolo Guan-zani, Managing Director of Gerflor Italia. "We are confident that it will enhance the already spectacular levels of dyna-mism of handball, and we are delighted to find that FIGH is a discerning partner with a strong commitment to encourag-ing the spread of this compelling sport. This," concludes Guanzani, "has led to the signing of an agreement that will enable teams to make use of top-level

Taraflex® courts, built to the same stand-ards as the ones used in international competitions, at exceptional condi-tions".

MARAZZI OPENS SHOWROOM IN WARSAW

Marazzi is stepping up its efforts to strengthen its brand identity in the retail arena in the major European capitals, and having opened new stores in Lon-don and Paris, the company has just in-augurated its first showroom in Poland, in Warsaw.The new showroom is located in the Eu-rocentrum in the Ochota district, one of

the liveliest areas of the Polish capital, and was designed to provide a dynam-ic showcase in which professional and other visitors can view the many collec-tions offered by the company, which was established in Sassuolo in 1935 and now operates in over 140 countries."We are confident," explains company CEO Mauro Vandini, "that Marazzi's products represent a combination of values, experience, research and inno-vation that now enjoys wide acclaim in the world of international architecture and interior design. The tile market in Po-land is growing and demand is increas-ingly shifting towards top-end products. We have a long-standing presence in this country and we have been working with all the major retailers for many years. The aim of this new showroom is to consolidate Marazzi's positioning as the top brand for our customers and the architecture community".

ish multinational to showcase the work of design professionals who, in the opin-ion of a specially selected jury, have made outstandingly innovative use of materials produced by the Group.The deadline for submission of projects is 23 March. The competition covers two categories: Future Projects, with a section for stu-dents and professionals, and Complet-ed Projects.The theme of the first category is a study of an architectural solution for the Por-celanosa showroom in Vila-real (Cas-tellón). The second category encom-passes the best projects of the most disparate types, completed between January 2016 and February 2018.To find out more: http://www.porcelano-sa-interiorismo.com/certamen/en/in-dex.html

LA FABBRICA CERTIFIED FOR QUALITY AND TECHNOLOGY

La Fabbrica, a specialist manufacturer of top-end ceramic based in Castel Bo-lognese, Italy, which since 2017 has been part of the Italcer Group headed by Graziano Verdi, has been awarded ISO 9001:2015 "Management and Qual-ity System" certification, testifying to the quality of its products and services, re-flecting the expectations of end-users and ensuring that they are met in full.With this certification, which the compa-ny obtained in just three months, La Fab-brica provides further confirmation of its overall qualitative standing, by adhering to procedures and methodologies that ensure the highest standards of efficien-cy of its business and management pro-cesses.For CEO Graziano Verdi, the new certifi-cation "is a major milestone because it testifies to the quality of our materials and processes, and forms part of the far-reaching programme of continuous im-provement that represents one of the Group's main objectives."

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21 Tile International 1/2018

11TH ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN AWARDS BY PORCELANOSA

Entries are now open for the next Por-celanosa Architecture&Interior Design Awards, a competition held by the Span-

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Tile International 1/2018 22

ASCER APPOINTS VICENTE NOMDEDEU LLUESMA AS ITS NEW CHAIRMAN

Vicente Nomdedeu Lluesma has been appointed as the new Chairman of AS-CER (the Spanish ceramic manufactur-ers' association).He was appointed on 11 January by the Association's Board of Directors, which met a few days after the sudden death of Isidro Zarzoso on 3 January at the age of 76. Colleagues paid tribute to Zarzoso, who had headed ASCER since 2013, for his profound sense of responsi-bility, the efficiency with which he led the association through a complex phase for the ceramic sector, and his contribu-tion to the achievement of major pan-European successes, such as the renew-al of anti-dumping tariffs on ceramic tile imports from China.Nomdedeu, who was born in 1959, heads the family ceramic business Azte-ca (Castellón), and was already Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASCER. According to his first announce-ments, Nomdedeu intends to stick to the same path embarked upon by his pre-decessor and remains committed to providing stronger representation within all national and European political fo-

SYSTEM GROUP TURNOVER SHOOTS UP TO 530 MILLION EUROS

System Group, based in Fiorano Moden-ese and headed by Franco Stefani, closed 2017 with turnover still growing in double figures. The Group recorded con-solidated turnover of 530 million euros (net of the sale of a 60% stake in System Logistics in 2016), equating to a year-on-year rise of 23%.Results of this type have been achieved by all the Group's divisions, from Logis-tics to Modula and, of course, Laminam, Italy's leading manufacturer of large-for-mat ceramic panels, which expects to report earnings of more than 80 million euros (approximately 20 million more than in 2016). Laminam's latest outstanding results were aided by the fact that its plant in Russia has now come on-stream, and by the introduction of its large-format pan-els measuring 1620x3240 mm with thick-nesses of 12 and 20 mm produced in the Borgotaro plant. This has enabled the company to enter the market for worktops for interior design applications, with the backing of a national television campaign.The System Group operates in 25 coun-tries through 40 subsidiaries. Its exports account for 85% of total revenues, and it employs 2,040 people worldwide, repre-senting a rise of 70 units in 2017, mainly at the company's Italian sites.

rums and in relation to the fight against unfair competition.

VICTORIA PLC ACQUIRES CERAMICHE SERRA

Victoria PLC, a British multinational spe-cialising in the manufacture and distri-bution of flooring materials (carpet, rugs, LVT and parquet), recently an-nounced its acquisition of Ceramiche Serra, a company headed by Pietro Fogliani and headquartered in Torre Maina (Modena).The transaction is valued at 56.5 million euros, of which 36.5 million are payable on completion and the remaining 20 payable over four years, subject to the attainment of certain targets. Ceram-iche Serra, which closed 2016 with turn-over of 28.2 million euros and profit of 10.5 million, will continue to operate au-tonomously under its current manage-ment team.Geoff Wilding, Chairman of Victoria PLC, a London stock market listed company, emphasised the importance of its first acquisition of a ceramic manufacturer, which will strengthen the Group's growth strategy by diversifying its business inter-ests and coverage of international mar-kets, enabling the British company to become an increasingly international player in the flooring segment. On com-pletion of the acquisition, the Group will have 1,800 employees, 20 production sites spread across the United Kingdom, Australia, Holland, Belgium and Italy, and about 40% of its profit generated outside the UK. In the financial year to 1 April 2017, Victo-ria recorded consolidated revenues of 330.4 million GBP, up 29.5% on the previous year.

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24Tile International 1/2018

TECNARGILLA STEPS UP OVERSEAS PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN

The promotional activities launched in support of Tecnargilla Rimini (24-28 Sep-tember 2018), the world's most impor-tant trade fair for suppliers of the ceram-ic and heavy clay industry, are continuing at a brisk pace around the world, with a view to giving the upcom-ing edition an even more international character, with an impressive line-up of top players in the sector.With a view to raising the event's world-wide profile, the promotional activities being carried out overseas this year have the backing of an experienced network of agents in all the target coun-tries and are complemented by attend-ing major world trade fairs and making direct contact with key ceramic industry trade associations, leading buyers and chambers of commerce.

GPE Fairs in Spain, Bee2Bee in Turkey, Arta Group in Iran, Unifair Exhibition Ser-vice in China and Rare Tech Projects Pv-tin India are the partners that Tecnargil-la has chosen to work with to extend its promotional activity abroad. Numerous delegations and targeted buyers are ex-pected to attend this year's edition and will add to the buzz in the business meet-ing area (over 1,000 meetings were held there in 2016), which exhibitor compa-nies love because of the excellent busi-ness opportunities it generates.Thanks to the intensive organisational efforts invested in this edition, Tecnargilla is forecasting an increase in attend-ance, even compared with the 2016 edition (the event is held every two years), when foreign visitor numbers reached 16,764 (+6.3% compared with 2014).

SANMARCO-TERREAL ACQUIRES PICA

SanMarco-Terreal Italia, which belongs to Terreal, a leading multinational manu-facturer and seller of heavy clay prod-ucts, has signed a deal for the acquisi-tion of Pica, a historic company based in Pesaro.The acquisition of Pica, which was com-pleted after a period of business leas-ing, forms part of SanMarco's growth strategy aimed at enhancing its com-petitiveness by extending its range of ex-truded floor and wall products.The alliance between the two compa-nies will generate estimated turnover of around 10 million euros in 2018, employ-ing a total of about 60 full-time staff.Commenting on the acquisition, Fer-nando Cuogo, General Director of San-Marco-Terreal Italia, said: "Italy's heavy clay market will never climb back to the levels it reached 10 years ago, so we need to concentrate and streamline our offering. The acquisition of Pica meets this need by enabling us to increase and balance our coverage of the Italian market."