2. Red products

These are roof tiles, bricks and tiles. Their compositions, firing conditions and porosities are more or less the same as those given for terracotta in table 1 , with the exception of tiles, whose shards (unglazed fired part) are made of stoneware (two-thirds of production) or earthenware (one-third of production).

However, these are mainly produced and used in Northern Europe, and very little in France, where they are preferred to cast iron or concrete: the specifics of their manufacture are not covered here.

In terms of production volume, red products, often identified as "ceramics for the building trade", are by far the highest production tonnage of all ceramics, but they are also those with the lowest unit prices and...