Welcome

The beginning of a new era…

In the last issue of Asian Ceramics, we bade farewell to the founder and publishing director of the magazine, Andy Skillen.

It is my pleasure as the incoming new editor to wish Andy every success with his future endeavours and thank him for his challenging work in building a magazine that we all now enjoy.

And so, we move on. Hi, my name is Isaac Hamza, your new editor and I look forward to bringing you a continued mix of high-quality news, views, analysis and more from your favourite ceramics publication.

A little about me. My editorial career has spanned B2B, print and online publications across the business, finance, and legal industries. I look forward to bringing this experience to Asian Ceramics.

The world that we live in today is shaped by COVID-19 and now by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The impact of this conflict is felt around the world. The ceramics industry is no exception.

The war between the two slavic nations has resulted in immediate problems with natural gas supply and price hikes in Morbi, a city in Gujarat state, which has Asia’s largest ceramics manufacturing cluster. In Europe, Italy’s ceramic industry, too, is feeling the pinch from high energy costs and the effects of the war, with 30 companies ceasing production and 4,000 workers being temporarily laid off, industry lobby Confindustria Ceramica revealed in March. The reverbations continue to unfold in other parts of the world.

The loss of human lives within the countries involved, as well as its impact elsewhere, is tragic and unwarranted given what the world has just gone through in the form of the pandemic. We hope that better sense prevails and that this war ends soon.

On the brighter side, the opening of the world following COVID-19 paves the way for the new exhibition season in 2022, which begins with Ceramics China taking place in Guangzhou in May quickly followed by two larger European shows in June, namely Cevisama and Ceramitec.

Indeed, 2022 is a year filled with great exhibitions and events that celebrate the industry we love. Our team is indeed excited to be able to provide you with all this information as it occurs right here in this publication.

In our own unique way, we will continue to provide excellent content for our global audiences and to increase exposure across the region for all those seeking to gain a better understanding of ceramics and the ceramics industries.

In this edition, packed with highly insightful and informative content, you will find articles on ASEAN tableware makers, China real estate, Bangladesh as a sanitaryware rival, and consumer trends in sanitaryware

As a final note, I look forward to your support as I strive to continue the excellent work the publication has conducted to date. Thank you.

Enjoy the read.