Ceramics affected by ban on mining activity for raw material
Banning of mining activity for deposits for raw material in Sri Lanka has affected the ceramic industry which has forced all ceramic manufacturers including Noritake to import raw material from abroad, according to the Deputy Chairman/ Managing Director of Noritake Lanka Porcelain (Pvt) Ltd, Hidenori Tanaka.
He made this statement as Chief Guest at the 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Sri Lanka Ceramics and Glass Council held at the JAIC Hilton Hotel at Union Place Colombo 2 last week.
He said a combined effort by stakeholders of the ceramic industry should help overcome difficulties faced by the industry in future. “We at Noritake will continue to support and make every effort to help the Council.” He said the ceramics industry has a rich history dating back to several centuries in Sri Lanka which makes Sri Lankan ceramics special and unique.
The newly elected 16th President of the Council, Anura Warnakulasooriya, noted that the sector is one of the few industries that use locally available raw materials in bulk before adding value to be sold locally or for exports.
The value addition in some cases is about 300 per cent, a lucrative business. He said the ceramics industry in Sri Lanka is an important industry in the country although it faces many challenges at present and in the future. “When I open a magazine in Asia most articles relate to sanitary ware industry, tiles, roof tiles tableware etc but magazines published in the US or Europe is all about technical ceramics, advance ceramics and Nano ceramics. This is where we need to head in the future to improve and add value to our products to compete with products from Vietnam and Bangladesh,” he said adding that the the council hopes to work with local associations to improve Ceramic processing, raw materials etc to improve productivity.
The proceedings of the AGM was conducted by Sunil Wijesinha, the acting protem Chairman of the Council.