The Brazilian Ceramic Industry

Ceramics play an important role in the Brazilian economy, with a participation estimated in 1% of the GNP(Gross National Product), corresponding to about 6 billion dollars. The abundance of natural raw-materials, alternative energy sources, and the availability of practical technologies within the industrial equipments, caused a rapid evolution of the Brazilian industries, and several types of products from the various ceramic segments attained international quality levels, with singnificative exportation. He ceramic sector is very diverse and can be divided into the following classes: heavy clay ceramics, wall and floor tiles, refractory materials, sanitaryware, porcelain electric insulators, tableware, decorative china, ceramic filters and reservoirs for domestic use, technical cermics, and thermal insulators. All these segments exist in Brazil,in a higheror lower stage of development and production capacity. Moreover, there are alos manufacutrers of synthtic glazes and colorants, plaster of paris, equipments ans some auxiliar chemiclas. In this paper, an overview of the main Brazilian ceramic segments is presented, excluding the glass, cement, and lime sectors, which, despite being ceramic, are genrally treated in separate.