Panel Debate: The ceramic sector at the crossroads of the changing raw materials market

In 2022, the ceramic tile industry consumed about 300 million tonnes of raw materials of highly differing nature, ranging from huge amounts of natural raw materials such as clays, quartz, and feldspar to synthetic raw materials such as certain metallic oxides, in addition to other materials classified as critical by the European Commission, given the strategic character of the sectors in which they are used and the scarce deposits in the European Union (EU).

The session will focus on the raw materials used in manufacturing tile bodies, frits, and glazes. The evolution in recent years of their consumption data, prices, main sources, and future prospects will be reviewed. This information will be used to indicate which raw materials might be subject to limited use in the next few years, either because of availability, excessive cost, or competition from other industries.

A further interesting aspect to be addressed in this session is the way in which companies have adapted to the changes in the raw materials market, owing to the international situation resulting from the war in Ukraine and the exorbitant increase in price of some of these raw materials.

Finally, the logistics deployed by the ceramic industry in order to have raw materials with the appropriate quality and in the necessary amounts, both from the EU and from outside the EU, will also be discussed, since a large part of these need to be imported from third countries.

 

Chaired by: Arnaldo Moreno and Javier García Ten

Arnaldo Moreno Berto

ITC Marketing and Sales Area Coordinator

Degree in Chemical Sciences (specialising in Industrial Chemistry) from the University of Valencia and Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from Universitat Jaume I (UJI) of Castellón. Full professor of Chemical Engineering at UJI and member of the Institute of Ceramic Technology (ITC) since 1987, where he has performed different roles.

 He has been coordinating the ITC Marketing and Sales Area since 2013. He has also been on the Steering Committee y has coordinated Working Group 4 (Nanomaterials for Novel Structural and Functional Applications) of the European Technology Platform for Advanced Engineering Materials and Technologies (EUMAT) since June 2013, has presided over the ACerS Spain Chapter since July 2019, and is director of the Porcelanosa Partnership Programme for Talent and Excellence and of the Altadia Chair for Ceramic Knowledge, both at UJI in Castellón.

 He has authored 96 research papers in indexed journals and 109 communications at conferences and scientific meetings and has collaborated on three books/monographs on ceramic technology. In his long career as researcher and teacher, he has been senior researcher or has collaborated in 179 R&D and Technology Consultancy Services projects conducted at ITC. He has participated in coordinating two thematic networks funded by the European Commission and by the Valencia Regional Authority and is co-inventor of 7 patents in the field of chemical engineering and ceramic technology.

Javier García Ten

Head of the Area for Materials and Ceramic Technologies

Francisco Javier García Ten earned his degree in Chemical Sciences (specialising in Industrial Chemistry) from the University of Valencia in 1987 and his Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from Universitat Jaume I (UJI) of Castellón in 2005. He was assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at UJI from 1996 to 2011.

He has been member of the Institute of Ceramic Technology–Ceramic Industry Research Association (ITC-AICE) since 1989, in different roles: scientific collaborator, head of the Unit for Ceramic Tile Compositions, R&D project coordinator, manager of ITC’s Technology Consultancy Services, and deputy director of AICE. He is currently head of the Area for Materials and Ceramic Technologies.

Author of over 130 research papers and communications at conferences and technical meetings on different subjects relating to ceramic technology and chemical engineering, he has co-authored 4 books on raw materials characteristics and behaviour in the ceramic process and on methods for controlling raw materials quality.

He has participated as senior researcher in more than 150 R&D and Technology Consultancy Services projects carried out at ITC, funded by raw materials, ceramic tile, frit and glaze, roofing tile, and brick manufacturing companies, among others, as well as by public bodies of the Valencia Regional Government, Spanish Government, and European Union. In addition, he has also delivered more than 90 courses and seminars on subjects relating to ceramic technology in different Spanish and foreign companies.

 

Members

José Ángel Planas Babiloni

Technical Director of IBEROCLAYS

Degree in Chemical Sciences from the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló. Master’s Degree in Ceramic Technology from the Universitat Jaume I and Master’s Degree in Education from the UNED.

He has been the Technical Director of IBEROCLAYS since 2017, company devoted to the production and marketing of raw materials for the ceramic industry. The company’s main market is clay and feldspar compositions for support in the ceramic sector in Castellón, but also produces compositions of other alternative products and exports raw materials to countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.

José Ángel Planas Babiloni has been immersed in the ceramic raw materials sector for more than 30 years, working in various prestigious international companies such as Sibelco, Torrecid, Arciblansa and Samca, which has allowed him to acquire technical knowledge of numerous raw materials as well as the necessary processes for their production and commercialisation

Miguel J. Galindo

Founder and CEO of Galesk Consultancy, SL.

Founder and Executive Director of Galesk Consultancy, SL, an independent business consultancy specialized on industrial raw materials for the ceramics, glass, fertilizers, and electric batteries sectors, among others, with clients in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia.

Chemical Engineer (with major on Ceramic Technology), Miguel has postgraduate studies at London Business School (United Kingdom), Fuqua Business School, Duke University (USA) and INSEAD in Singapore.

Global executive with more than 30 years of experience in general management, operations, marketing, and sales in multinational companies in the natural resources sector. His experience includes areas such as processing, logistics, strategic planning, marketing and sales, leading multidisciplinary teams and multicultural teams in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and the Americas.

He is a speaker at numerous international conferences in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Holland, the USA, India, Brazil, Mexico, etc. and professor in several programs in Spain and the United Kingdom. He has been a member of different Councils in Europe, including the Governing Council of the Institute of Ceramic Technology in Castellon for 14 years.

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Juan Francisco Aparisi Ventura

Corporate R&D Director for Frits & Glazes in the Altadia Group

Degree in Chemical Sciences (specialising in Industrial Chemistry) from the University of Valencia and PDD degree training (Esade 2005 – 2006 and IESE 2014 – 2015).

He has developed his professional career in Esmalglass-Itaca Group (currently part of Altadia Group), where he held the positions of Head of the Analysis and R&D Laboratory (1989 – 2005) and Technical Director of Esmalglass (2006 – 2014).

Since 2014, he has held the position of Corporate R&D Director for Frits & Glazes in the Esmalglass-Itaca Group.

He currently holds the position of Corporate R&D Director for Frits & Glazes in the Altadia Group.

During his professional career, he has worked in the fields of development of frits, glazes and ceramic additives, raw materials and by-products for the manufacture of frits and glazes.

He is co-author and contributor of numerous research articles in indexed journals, as well as communications and papers presented at congresses and scientific meetings. He is also co-inventor of 3 patents