German brick and tile industry: 15 years on a shrinking market
The German brick and tile industry registered substantial declines in all product ranges again last year. For the first time, the production value even dropped below the € 1 billion mark, with 2009 logging only € 975.8 million (after € 1,075.4 million the year before = minus 9.3%). While the dramatic 17.2% fall-off of 2008 was not repeated, the trend is still pointing down. Even considering that some stock reserves were cut back in 2009, the situation remains alarming.
Martin Roth, managing director of the Federal German Association of the Brick and Tile Industry: “We are still unsure about whether the brick and tile industry actually has started to recover from its trough in 2010. With the exception of 2006, which brought a minor improvement to the situation, the market has been going downhill or stagnating for exactly 15 years now.“
According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, the production of building bricks declined 15.5% in 2009. A total of 6 million m³ building bricks were produced last year (2008: 7.1 million m³) – and the sector‘s balance...
