• Ceramics Industry
• CONSTRUCTION IS STILL AN IMPORTANT PART OF SPAIN'S GDP

СThe construction industry made up 20% of Spain's GDP in 2005, while the forecast for the end of 2011 is for 14%, down about 6 points, according to SEOPAN, the industry association.

Despite this significant drop, the contribution of the construction industry to GDP is still today higher in Spain than in any other country in the EU.

Of the total construction activity in the EU, 19.1% takes place in Germany, 18.1% in France, 12% in Italy, with Spain fourth on 11.3% of the total for the EU.

• Corporate
• BARCELONA HOSTS THE ECTS

The general secretary of ECTS, Alessandro Colucci, during a presentation at the Barcelona meeting.

Barcelona was the venue of the latest biannual meeting of the ECTS, the European association of ceramic technology suppliers, on November 18, hosted by TALLERES FELIPE VERDÉS and BERALMAR TECNOLOGIC.

The meeting dealt with the usual areas of interest common to members of the group as well as sharing macroeconomic and political data and trends which affect the immedate future of various markets around the world.

The occasion was also used to present to the group a draft version of a video report commissioned and funded by the ECTS and its members which aims to promote the benefits of using ceramics as a building material in today's architecture. In this way, the ECTS hopes to influence developers, architects, public bodies and also the end user in the use of ceramics.

The next ECTS meeting will take place in May 2012 in Munich (Germany), taking advantage of the presence of the Ceramitec trade fair attendees in the same city.

• News and Accomplishments
• CONSTRUCTION OF A TUNNEL KILN IN SPAIN

BERALMAR has started work on the design and construction of a tunnel kiln for NUEVA CERÁMICA CAMPO in Pontevedra (Spain). The kiln will be 123.9 metres long and 4.16 metres wide, with a useful height of 1.23 metres from the cart, for the production of 45 tonnes per day of various formats of refractory materials.

The kiln is a PRESTHERMIC-E model with some modifications to the standard design mainly related to the high firing temperatures of the refractory product, which can reach 1,400 °C.

An interesting aspect of the kiln is the fuel used, consisting of recycled household and car oils, which goes through a refining process to become a high calorific value fuel, for which BERALMAR has had to develop customised firing equipment.

Commisioning of the new kiln is scheduled for June 2012.