Annual Meeting of Brick and Roofing Tile
Manufacturers in Heidelberg
At a dozen members’ meetings of the branch associations and initiatives, we shall review the year 2017 and venture an outlook on 2018/19. Be there! Waste no more time and make sure to register asap.
2017 was very varied year for the German brick and roofing tile industry. According to production statistics from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, the value of heavy clay ceramics production increased by 2.9 % on 2016 to more than €1.3 bill. This development was driven by masonry bricks with a plus of 5.9 % especially on account of the increased construction volume for multi-storey housing. Despite difficult conditions, roofing tile manufacturers were still able to register a slight plus of 0.4 %.
With a view to the persisting capacity bottlenecks of the building industry and declining numbers of construction permits, the right political decisions have to be made for the future. The coalition agreement between the political parties CDU/CSU and SPD does offer some points of reference in this respect, for instance with the family property allowance, the introduction of a limited-time special depreciation in the affordable housing rental segment or the urgently required tax incentives for energetic refurbishment. All the same, the financial framework planned so far is in no way adequate to create tangible incentives. Insofar it is important to make necessary adjustments in the respective legislative processes to get anywhere near meeting the target of 1.5 million new homes by 2021 as declared by the German government in its drive for new homes.
And when it comes to production-related topics, we as brick and tile manufacturers must raise our voices to make them heard in the debate. European emission trading is going into its decisive phase of negotiations for the years after 2020. Moreover, in Germany we can expect an intensive discussion on national climate protection legislation. In addition, for months, work on the Building Energy Law, which is particularly relevant for our industry, has been in full swing.
The challenges are not getting any less. Insofar my sincere thanks at this juncture go to the members of our association and all our other allies with whom we fight for the interests of our industry.
Yours
Stefan Jungk
President of the Federal Association of the German Brick and Tile Industry Regd.
