Archive:Ceramic and clay production statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1
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- Data from January 2009. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database
This article belongs to a set of statistical articles which analyse the structure, development and characteristics of the various economic activities in the European Union (EU). The present article covers ceramic and clay production, which is part of the other non-metallic minerals sector. The activities covered in this article correspond to three different NACE Rev 1.1 groups, which are the manufacture of:
- ceramic goods other than for construction (NACE Group 26.2), which comprises refractory ceramic products and non-refractory ceramic goods for purposes other than construction;
- ceramic tiles and flags (NACE Group 26.3);
- clay construction products (NACE Group 26.4), which includes bricks, tiles and other construction products made of clay.
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Main statistical findings
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The market for ceramic and clay products is principally driven by the construction sector, for which bricks and tiles are used during the general construction phase and as wall and floor coverings, as well as sanitary ware in completion and installation stages.
Structural profile
The manufacture of ceramic and clay products (NACE Groups 26.2 to 26.4) was the main activity of about 21.0 thousand enterprises within the EU-27 in 2006. These enterprises employed 368.4 thousand people in the Member States, a little less than one in every four (23.2 %) of the other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing (NACE Division 26) workforce. The EU-27’s ceramic and clay products manufacturing sector generated EUR 15.6 billion of value added in 2006 (one fifth of the value added across the activities of other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing), the largest contribution (42.4 %) of which came from the ceramic goods other than for construction (NACE Group 26.2) manufacturing subsector, the remainder coming relatively evenly from the manufacture of ceramic tiles and flags (NACE Group 26.3) and the manufacturing of clay construction products (NACE Group 26.4) subsectors.
The value added generated by the ceramic and clay products manufacturing sector in Italy was EUR 3.7 billion in 2006, a little less than one quarter (23.9 %) of the value added generated by the ceramic and clay products manufacturing sectors in the EU-27. The next largest contributions of value added came from Spain (18.6 %) and Germany (16.1 %). Among those Member States with available data[1], Italy, Hungary and Spain were the countries that were most specialised in ceramic and clay products manufacturing in value added terms.
There were contrasting developments in the production indices of the three NACE groups that comprise ceramic and clay products manufacturing. After rises in 1997 and 1998, there was then a relatively steady downward trend in the EU-27’s output of ceramic tiles and flags through until 2007, the average rate of decline over the ten years being -1.0 % per year. There was also a clear downward trend in the EU-27’s output of ceramic goods other than for construction purposes during the same period, despite upturns in 2000, 2004 and 2007, the average rate of decline being -1.5 % per year. The development of the production index for clay construction products, however, was similar to the development for other non-metallic mineral products as a whole, albeit with more exaggerated rises from 1998 through to 2000 and again after 2002, and steeper falls in 2001 and 2002.
Expenditure and productivity
Tangible investment in the EU-27’s ceramic goods and clay products sector was valued at EUR 2.7 billion in 2006, corresponding to 17.7 % of tangible investment across all the activities of other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing. In comparison to the value added generated by the ceramic goods and clay products sector in 2006, this level of tangible investment corresponded to an investment rate of 17.3 %, somewhat lower than the average rate (19.1 %) for other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing.
Average personnel costs across the EU-27’s ceramic goods and clay products sector were EUR 27.3 thousand per employee in 2006, about 10 % less than the average for other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing activities. However, personnel costs accounted for a relatively high proportion (28.7 % in 2005) of operating expenditure. Personnel costs accounted for a slightly higher share (29.3 %) of operating expenditure in the ceramic goods other than for construction subsector, despite lower average personnel costs (EUR 25.2 thousand per employee), suggesting that this subsector was relatively labour-intensive.
The average added value generated by each person employed within the EU-27’s ceramic goods and clay products sector was EUR 42.3 thousand in 2006, which was the equivalent of EUR 8.0 thousand less per person than the average for all workers within other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing. Although average personnel costs were also lower, the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of 154.7 % for the EU-27’s ceramic goods and clay products sector remained below the average ratio (164.5 %) for all other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing in 2006. Within the ceramic goods and clay products sector, there was a wide spread in wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios, ranging from 136.6 % for the ceramic goods other than for construction manufacturing subsector to 196.3 % for the manufacturing of clay construction products subsector.
Data sources and availability
The main part of the analysis in this article is derived from structural business statistics (SBS), including core, business statistics which are disseminated regularly, as well as information compiled on a multi-yearly basis, and the latest results from development projects.
Other data sources include short-term statistics (STS) and the PRODCOM statistics on the production of manufactured goods.
Context
The processes of transforming mineral raw materials such as clay, lime, sand or stone into other non-metallic mineral products (for use, among others, by construction, food and beverages manufacturing, or households in the form of consumer durables) tend to be energy-intensive. Indeed, energy costs accounted for 9.5 % of the purchases of goods and services in the EU’s other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing sector in 2006, the second highest ratio after non-energy mining and quarrying (NACE Subsection CB) among the industrial structural business statistics sectors. Within this sector, the share of energy costs in purchases of goods and services reached 14.9 % for the EU-27’s ceramic goods and clay products manufacturing subsector.
Current policy initiatives are focused on environmental impacts, energy strategies, and health and safety. Under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), independent consultants delivered studies to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry on the competitiveness of the ceramics and glass sectors in October 2008.
Challenges were identified, including ensuring the availability of energy and raw materials at affordable prices, the need to minimise energy waste, reduce energy use, as well as maintaining emissions within targets and removing tariff and non-tariff international barriers to trade. Suggested areas of development were a focus on the high quality and high value products end of the market, investment in cleaner technologies and environmental management systems, investment in more efficient and flexible automation technologies, improved and more targeted skills training programmes and efforts at a policy level to establish EU environmental regulations on a global platform.
See also
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- European Business: Facts and figures - 2009 edition
Main tables
Database
Dedicated section
External links
Notes
- ↑ Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Poland, 2005; the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden, not available.