The Citizen Online | Ceramic takes hard knock - Business News

SA’s largest manufacturer of wall and floor tiles, Ceramic Industries,
is delaying its decision to invest R500 million into a new tile factory
until it is able to convert its old order mining rights to new order
rights.

The mining rights are for clay, an essential raw material
in the manufacture of tiles, but on its own, a marginal commodity that
generates little interest among miners. The company applied to convert
the rights in 2008. Without a secured supply of an essential raw
material the company cannot commit to an investment of that scale, says
CEO Nick Booth.
Ceramic Industries reported lower than expected
profitability in its results to July. Higher electricity and gas prices,
rising costs of commodities like zirconium and borax which are used in
the production of glazes, and competition from cheap imports were cited
as reasons for the poor earnings.