Fewer plants, better utilization, lower overhead—the math is straightforward.
Em um domingo de maio, a Dexco anunciou o encerramento de sua fábrica de revestimentos cerâmicos em Urussanga, no sul de Santa Catarina, transferindo a produção das marcas Portinari e Ceusa para unidades em Criciúma e Botucatu. A decisão insere-se numa lógica conhecida da indústria manufatureira: consolidar para sobreviver, reduzir complexidade para competir. Para Urussanga, cidade cuja identidade industrial está entrelaçada à cerâmica, o anúncio representa não apenas uma mudança logística, mas uma transformação silenciosa no tecido econômico e humano da região.
- A Dexco encerra sua planta de Urussanga sem revelar quantos trabalhadores serão diretamente afetados, deixando uma lacuna inquietante entre o comunicado corporativo e a realidade das famílias envolvidas.
- A produção das marcas Portinari e Ceusa será absorvida pelas unidades de Criciúma e Botucatu, que a empresa afirma ter capacidade suficiente para manter qualidade e atendimento sem interrupções.
- A empresa justifica o fechamento com metas de eficiência operacional, competitividade e sustentabilidade — argumentos que soam racionais nos balanços, mas que pouco dizem sobre o custo humano da transição.
- Trabalhadores demitidos receberão pacotes de apoio e poderão ser transferidos para outras unidades do grupo, mas os detalhes concretos — números, prazos, garantias — permanecem escassos e indefinidos.
- O movimento reflete uma contração mais ampla no setor cerâmico brasileiro, pressionado por margens apertadas e demanda instável, com Criciúma emergindo como polo fortalecido e Urussanga enfrentando um novo vazio industrial.
Em um domingo de final de maio, a Dexco comunicou o fechamento de sua fábrica de revestimentos cerâmicos em Urussanga, no sul de Santa Catarina. A unidade, responsável pela produção das marcas Portinari e Ceusa, deixará de operar como parte de uma reorganização estratégica da companhia. A produção será transferida para as plantas de Criciúma — a cerca de vinte quilômetros de distância — e de Botucatu, no interior de São Paulo.
A empresa afirma que as duas unidades receptoras possuem capacidade instalada suficiente para absorver toda a demanda das marcas afetadas, sem prejuízo à qualidade ou ao atendimento dos clientes. A justificativa oficial apoia-se em três pilares: eficiência operacional, fortalecimento competitivo e metas de sustentabilidade. É a aritmética clássica da consolidação industrial — menos plantas, melhor aproveitamento da capacidade existente, menor overhead.
O que o comunicado deixa em aberto é precisamente o que mais importa para quem vive em Urussanga. A Dexco reconheceu que trabalhadores serão impactados e prometeu pacotes de apoio com benefícios adicionais, além da possibilidade de reaproveitamento em outras unidades do grupo. Mas nenhum número foi divulgado — nem de demissões, nem de transferências efetivas. É nessa lacuna entre a linguagem corporativa e o detalhe concreto que a história real costuma habitar.
Com mais de setenta anos de atuação no Brasil, cerca de treze mil funcionários e vinte e duas unidades industriais e florestais distribuídas entre o país e a Colômbia, a Dexco é um grupo de peso. Para Criciúma, o fechamento de Urussanga significa expansão e provável geração de empregos. Para Urussanga, significa mais um capítulo na contração gradual de uma indústria que moldou sua identidade econômica. Para os trabalhadores em transição, o desfecho dependerá de quanto das promessas corporativas se converterá em emprego real.
On a Sunday in late May, Dexco announced it would shut down its ceramic tile factory in Urussanga, a town in southern Santa Catarina. The decision marks a significant consolidation in the company's manufacturing footprint, one that will reshape the region's industrial landscape and affect an undisclosed number of workers at the facility.
The Urussanga plant, which produced tiles under the Portinari and Ceusa brand names, will cease operations as part of what the company describes as a strategic operational reorganization. Production from both brands will shift to two other Dexco facilities: one in nearby Criciúma, roughly twenty kilometers away, and another in Botucatu, São Paulo. The company stated that these two plants have sufficient capacity to absorb all demand from the affected brands without disruption to customers or quality standards.
Dexco framed the closure as a move toward greater operational efficiency, competitive strength, and sustainability. In an official statement, the company emphasized that consolidating production at Criciúma and Botucatu would allow it to maintain service levels and product quality while reducing operational complexity. The logic is familiar in manufacturing: fewer plants, better utilization of existing capacity, lower overhead. For a company operating in the competitive ceramic tile sector, where margins matter and efficiency drives survival, the math is straightforward.
What remains less clear is the human dimension. Dexco acknowledged that workers at Urussanga would be affected, and said the company would provide a support package with additional benefits. The statement also mentioned the possibility of transferring affected employees to other group facilities, though no specific numbers were disclosed—neither how many jobs would be lost nor how many workers might be offered positions elsewhere. This gap between corporate language and concrete detail is where the real story often lives, and it's precisely where information remains sparse.
The company itself is substantial. Dexco operates more than seventy years in the Brazilian market, maintains a headquarters in São Paulo, employs roughly thirteen thousand people across the group, and runs twenty-two industrial and forestry facilities spread between Brazil and Colombia. In the ceramic tile sector specifically, Portinari and Ceusa are recognized brands, known for products aimed at construction, architecture, and interior design, with stated emphasis on innovation and sustainable manufacturing practices.
The closure reflects broader currents in Brazil's ceramic industry—a sector that has faced pressure from economic headwinds, shifting consumer demand, and the relentless push toward operational consolidation. For Urussanga, a town whose economy has long been tied to ceramic production, the announcement represents another chapter in the industry's gradual contraction. For Criciúma, the news means expanded operations and likely job growth at the facility absorbing Urussanga's production. For the workers caught in the transition, the outcome depends entirely on whether the promised support packages and transfer opportunities materialize into actual employment.
Notable Quotes
The production will be concentrated at Criciúma and Botucatu facilities, which have full capacity to absorb demand from both brands while maintaining operational continuity and quality standards.— Dexco official statement
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why close Urussanga specifically? What made that facility the one to go?
The company didn't say explicitly, but the pattern is clear—Criciúma and Botucatu already exist, they're running, and they have room to grow. Urussanga becomes redundant. It's not about the plant being broken; it's about having too many plants doing the same thing.
And the workers there—do we know how many people lose their jobs?
That's the frustrating part. Dexco mentioned a support package and possible transfers, but gave no numbers. You don't know if it's fifty people or five hundred. That silence tells you something about how these announcements are managed.
Is this unusual for the ceramic tile industry right now?
Not at all. The sector has been consolidating for years. Margins are thin, competition is fierce, and every company is trying to do more with fewer facilities. Urussanga is one closure among many.
What happens to a town when its main employer shrinks like this?
That depends on what else is there. If Urussanga's economy is built on ceramics, this is serious. If there's diversification, it's a blow but not catastrophic. Either way, the workers who can't transfer have to find work elsewhere or leave.
Does Criciúma benefit from this?
Almost certainly. They're getting the production volume from Urussanga, which means more work, more shifts, possibly more hiring. It's a zero-sum game between the two towns.