AnReport 2004 - Sacmi

The internationalisation of the Ceramics
division was taken a step further in
2004 thanks to the Group’s expansion
in China: kiln production facilities at
Sacmi Foshan were improved and
enlarged to meet the needs of South-
East Asia and India, with output largely
being oriented towards the lower
end of those markets.
Moreover, on 1st January 2004 the
German company Laeis Bucher
Technology GmbH was formally incorporated
into the Sacmi Group, bringing
with it a wealth of refractory production
skills. As a result a new press
range has been designed and the
Sacmi Group has reinforced its position
in the European refractory
industry.
Over the course of the year the
Ceramics division channelled significant
resources into reinforcing its
standing in the aluminium cookware
pressing field. The first PHP 5000
press - specially designed for striking
- is already on sale and available in
two different versions in both Italy and
Brazil.
For the very first year Sacmi also
extended plant engineering activities
to traditional brickwork: building
bricks, roof tiles, hollow blocks etc.
Sacmi Forni designed and built tunnel
driers and kilns for this industry, optimising
both energy consumption and
machine performance. More significantly,
a very important first order was
placed by the German company
Roeben for a turnkey roof tile plant in
Poland with an annual output of 40
million pcs/year.
The world sanitaryware market also
followed trends established in 2003:
on one side many new businesses
appeared in developing countries and
on the other existing producers continued
to invest intensively in advanced
technology. In 2004 Sacmi Whiteware
successfully played a duel role as both
supplier of turnkey production plants
and a partner in technologies such as
high pressure casting, robotized glazing
systems and cutting-edge firing
systems.
This encouraging performance was
further boosted by results from
Riedhammer. In 2004 Sacmi acquired
a 90% share of this German company,
a specialist in the production of kilns
for sanitaryware, tableware, technical/special
ceramic and carbon anodes.
Riedhammer closed 2004 with
sales totalling 53 million Euros, thus
raising total Whiteware revenues to
approximately 120 million Euros.
CERAMICS & TILES
WHITEWARE
KeraTech
19