The crisis these days does not live at the Bologna Fair, where Cersaie, the international exhibition of ceramics for building and bathroom furnishings, seems like a parallel world. Here you meet thousands of visitors who come from all over the world, you discover hundreds of new products, dozens of satisfied entrepreneurs, with growing turnover.
Once through the gates of Piazza della Constitution the daily drama of the Stock Exchanges, of S&P, of the downgrades, of the political lacerations, of the blood and tears financial manoeuvres, seems to disappear. In conferences, the flames of criticism are fanned, but among the beautiful and luxurious stands of the fair, people work hard and good deals are concluded. The feeling is that of facing a real country that works, a "shaken horse" that wins the prize even without the jockey, as Massimo D'Alema said a few years ago.
“We have to 'do', we're tired of chatting – claims Franco Stefani, of System in Fiorano Modenese (240 million in turnover), present at Cersaie with Laminam, the company that was the first to patent and market the thinnest tile in the world – it's been 20 years since no government has done anything for us, it's no longer worth complaining about. We have to roll up our sleeves and continue on the path of innovation and work, this is our present and our future. Let's take Steve Jobs as an example”. The genius of Apple invited the students of Stanford to be "crazy and hungry" and in Cersaie, indeed, one encounters a bit of healthy madness and a great desire to win, often with the Sassuolo license plate.
Mariano Paganelli is a new ceramic entrepreneur, a middle-aged novice who wants to put an idea to good use, so a year ago he created Steelker, to produce "a ceramic laminate that can be laid without glue and which resists 50 times more than shock and oscillation tiles”. Ceramics has always been his bread and butter: a degree in industrial chemistry, a past as director of the Marazzi research centre, another company-laboratory, Expert System Solutions, which analyzes the behavior of ceramic plants at high temperatures. “But I still wanted to have fun – he says – and since I like to work 12 hours a day, in the midst of the global economic crisis, I threw myself into a new business. Production is automated and I only need two employees to make, if I arrive at full speed, 200 thousand square meters of tiles for a turnover of around 5 million. With 10 employees I can reach one million square meters and a turnover of 25 million”.
In the first months, orders only arrived from abroad, France, England and the United States, because “Italy – explains Paganelli – is a very difficult market, which struggles to accept the new. But the product is there and the market as well, so I won't give up”. After all, exports are the strong point of ceramics and the sector, in the first six months of 2011, recorded a further 4,58% more in exports. Chinese rivals dominate the world with quantities, but Italy remains first in quality, inventiveness and has also managed to reduce unfair competition thanks to anti-dumping measures. Even the small imitation of Cersaie that the Chinese have been staging for some years in a hotel a few steps from the fair is now reduced to the bone. "In the beginning, it was necessary to book the rooms a year in advance - says the Italian manager of a Chinese company - now there are only a few of us left, the duties have weakened our possibilities".
The official fair, on the other hand, sees pink: “We recorded a marked increase in visitors – says Andrea Serri, head of the press office of the event – Cersaie confirms itself as the most important sector fair in the world. We have 965 exhibitors, of which 265 are foreigners from 30 countries and we occupy 176 square meters of exhibition space, but we cannot satisfy all requests, we would need at least another 50 square meters”. “Things are going well despite everything – observes Emilio Mussini, president of Panariagroup spa, listed on the Stock Exchange, in the Star segment – fortunately the Italian ceramic manufacturers have earned great credibility in the field and in this phase they have tried to be even more good as before. We don't ask the country for anything, just to be put in a position to compete on an equal footing with the others".
Also for Panariagroup, 285 million in turnover, 70% of exports, the keystone is innovation. With its various brands, it has brought many special products to Cersaie, from digital and antibacterial terracotta to photovoltaic ceramics, which can also be walked on while producing energy, to the so-called coat, to protect the home from heat and cold, without need later plaster. And innovation pays off, even though the stock on the Stock Exchange has lost a lot of ground. “We grew well in the first six months of 2011 – adds Mussini – now we are feeling the weight of the increase in energy and raw material costs, so we expect a small slowdown in the second half. For 2012 we are optimistic”.
The positive trend will probably induce Panariagroup to reopen the purchasing chapter as well: “When we went public in 2004 we had an ambitious programme, then we stopped due to the global crisis. We are now ready to assess the situation, not to seize opportunities whatever they may be, but with the aim of staying on the fastest growing markets”. In short, the feeling is that recovery is upon us, even if someone has not crossed the ford of stagnation. This is the case of Fincuoghi, a historic company in the Sassuolo ceramic district, acquired in July by the Turkish group Kale. "We have known this company for many years - says the president Bodur Zeynep Okyay - and we are happy to have come to Italy, which has very capable people full of ideas, especially in this district which offers an excellent context for work". And how do you judge the Italian situation as a whole? “We are convinced – replies the businesswoman – that your country will emerge from the crisis, a bit like what happened to us after the earthquake. Maybe Italy just needs to be able to better distribute public resources”. A real breath of optimism.
