São Paulo – Exports of ceramic tiles from Brazil to the United Arab Emirates rose from US$ 400 in 2000 to US$ 4.3 million last year. The figures are part of a study by the Brazilian Association of Ceramic Tile Manufacturers (Anfacer), which shows that the eight main buyers of the Brazilian product in the Arab world imported US$ 6.5 million in 2008, against US$ 260,000 in 2000.
The values obtained with sales to the region are still small when compared to the total exported by the sector, but the superintendent at the Anfacer, Antonio Carlos Kieling, points out the growth. "No matter what the values, there has been growth in our presence in the region," he said. He recalls that a market takes from three to five years to be won and that the sector has been participating in the Big 5 Show, a building sector fair in Dubai, for three years.
In the Arab world, the eight main buyers of ceramic tiles from Brazil in 2008 were the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Mauritania, Kuwait, Qatar and Lebanon. Saudi Arabia rose from imports of US$ 143,100 in 2000 to US$ 661,200, Jordan did not purchase in 2000 and bought US$ 628,300 last year, and Bahrain rose from US$ 50,100 to US$ 320,000 in the same period.
The superintendent at the Anfacer said that the sector companies, through the organisation, decided to diversify foreign markets, which were up to then greatly focussed on North America. "There was no crisis, but we decided that we did not want to depend just on the North American market," he said. Since then, the regions to which sales have grown most were Latin America and the Middle East.
To win the market in the Middle East, the sector participated in fairs and missions and the companies established representative and commercial offices in the countries of the region. The Emirates ended up as the main market, among the Arabs, but Kieling also pointed out the growth in sales to Saudi Arabia. The products sold to the Arab nations are mainly those for broad usage in constructions and also the more artistic ones, for finishing.
Anfacer forecasts exports of around US$ 350 million in ceramic tiles in 2009. Last year, revenues with the foreign market totalled US$ 364 million. "The foreign market did not react as fast as we hoped," said Kieling. In the domestic market there should be growth of 2% to 2.5% in sales.
*Translated by Mark Ament
