City’s ceramics industry to be promoted in the Far East

Five ceramics companies from Stoke-on-Trent are heading to the Far East to show off their products at an international exhibition which attracts visitors from more than 40 countries.

Keeling and Walker, Mantec, Hygan, Pebblevale and EJ Payne will take their place at ASEAN Ceramics 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand, to generate new trade opportunities and help to promote the city’s traditional and technical ceramics offer.

The biennial ceramic manufacturing exhibition will welcome more than 250 exhibiting companies and predominantly attracts Asian trade buyers with attendance from Vietnam, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Bangladesh and other countries.

The companies will be supported on the visit by a delegation led by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), Stoke-on-Trent City Council – through its involvement in the Make It Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Inward Investment Service – and Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, with funding from the Midlands Engine Challenge Fund.

Hartshill-based Hygan Products Ltd, which supplies high-quality sponges and sponging products to the global ceramics industry, will be attending the exhibition for the third time.

Jon Hewitt, CEO sales, said: “We have been to this exhibition twice and have enjoyed success and opportunities for our business at both of them. It’s an event which attracts buyers from all over Asia and it’s a great way for us to meet face-to-face with customers and discuss our products, and discuss ways in which we can meet any particular requirements they have.

“Some companies are apprehensive about exporting products but from our experience it’s been fantastic and very straightforward. Around 60 per cent of what we make goes overseas and we work closely with the city council and UKTI to make the most of fantastic opportunities like this exhibition.”

Dieter Guhl, managing director at Fenton-based Keeling and Walker, said: “We have been developing our business in Eastern Asia but not South East Asia so this is a chance for us to increase our exports into that area and hopefully develop a market.

“By going to the exhibition, we will be able to introduce our products to a number of companies that we wouldn’t have been able to reach normally and make lots of new contacts. The support we have received from the council and Make it Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Inward Investment Service has been invaluable and we are very grateful to be involved in this initiative.”

The exhibition, which runs from August 31 to September 2, will feature the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of machinery, technology and materials for the production of white-ware, heavy clay and advanced ceramics. Technical ceramics is a sector with an estimated global value of around £19 billion and is expected to increase by 66 per cent by 2020. It is arguably one of the fastest growing sectors as user industries like automotive, aerospace, energy and medical rely on ceramic technologies for their notable high temperature capability, strength and electrical properties.

Councillor Janine Bridges, cabinet member for education and economy at the city council, said: “It’s great to see these businesses doing well and looking to expand into exciting new markets. This exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to promote Stoke-on-Trent as the UK home for traditional and technical ceramics.

“It’s also a great way to generate and attract direct foreign investment to the city, which will benefit the local economy and create more jobs for residents in the long-term. Supporting the development of the city’s ceramics sector is a key policy for the city council.”

Robert Lawley, head of international trade, Staffordshire, at Department of International Trade, said: “We are delighted to be participating in the trade visit to ASEAN Ceramics. The exhibition will see the strengths of our technical ceramics sector promoted to a global audience and perpetuate the renaissance of the whole ceramics sector. Hopefully the companies participating will win valuable export orders and key overseas investors will note that the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire area is a great place to set up and do business.”