Cevisama, Spain’s big ceramic and bathroom exhibition, has been cancelled this year due to the difficulties resulting from the war in Ukraine.
The exhibition had already been put back from its original February dates to June because of the resurgence of Covid, but the massive rise in gas prices plus difficulties getting raw materials as a result of the war in Ukraine saw exhibitors cancelling their stands to such an extent that the organisers have now cancelled this year’s show.
The next Cevisama is scheduled back at its traditional time of year for 27 February to 3 March 2023.
The exponential rise of gas prices hits the ceramics manufacturers hard, because most of them use huge amounts of gas to make their products. Cosentino once told Stone Specialist magazine it uses as much gas at its factory in Almería, where it makes Dekton and Silestone, as a not-so-small town. And it has added more production lines since then.
Supplies of white clays, essential for the production of ceramics, have also been hit by the war because most of it came from Ukraine. The price of what is still available has shot up.
To top it all, the manufacturers have now lost the Russian market, which was the 12th largest export market for Spanish ceramics before its invasion of Ukraine.
The combined disruption has caused some manufacturers to suspend production.
With exhibitors pulling out, Feria Valencia, the organiser of Cevisama, decided the show could not go on.
You can read the full Feria Valencia statement on the Cevisama website here.
Carmen Álvarez, the Cevisama Director, says: “We are very sorry for the problems the cancellation may cause but what we have is an emergency situation that has arisen and that is preventing us from going ahead with the industry’s grand re-grouping we were so looking forward to.
“We do not want to let down the trade visitors who come every year from all over the world.”
The Spanish government will help ensure the show goes ahead next year through support from the Ministry of Economy. Feria Valencia says that support will enable it to make a “qualitative leap” in terms of the offering and content of the show and to encourage all leading Spanish and international businesses that have purchasing and specifying power to attend Cevisama 2023.