Since the beginning of this year, with the prices of raw materials and energy rising and many ceramic companies closing their kilns early, the ceramic industry, especially the import and export market, has become confusing. Ceramic people are not only unclear about the future development prospects of the company, but also even It is also a blinding eye to the current situation of the enterprise, making it difficult to see the rest.
For example, Zhongtaojun recently visited several people engaged in foreign trade in the industry regarding the import of ceramics. Two of the three people were confused about the question raised by Zhongtaojun. They said they didn’t feel any different this year! It seems they are staying out of the price hike storm.
Why don’t these import and export ceramic companies complain as much as other ceramic companies? The reason turns out to be that this year's imported ceramic tiles and slates have shown an upward trend in both the number of products and the number of new dealers. The reason why imported ceramic tiles and rock slabs are booming is that foreign products are of good quality. Each ceramic tile or rock slab has its own unique characteristics, and the price is not expensive.
"It's not surprising at all. Whether it is Spain or Italy, their products are of good quality and stable prices, so they have been on the rise. On the other hand, domestic products are highly homogenized, and there is a gap between enterprises. Price wars are happening one after another, and these are the main factors why the sales of domestic products have not increased significantly," a sales manager of imported slate told Zhongtaojun.
Imports of ceramic companies have been on an upward trend
"Ceramic World Review" is an authoritative statistical organization in the U.S. industry that publishes foreign trade data of ceramic companies every year. These data have very good reference value and are slightly different from the figures published by relevant domestic agencies, but the discrepancies are not significant. Judging from the data published before 2020 by "Ceramic World Review", my country's ceramic enterprises' imports have been on an upward trend.
China, Spain and Italy are the top three ceramic tile exporters in the world, accounting for 60% of global ceramic tile exports and have remained unchanged for a long time. But unlike Italy and Spain, which focus on exports, China’s huge market relies on domestic consumption, which means most of its products are sold domestically.
China is a major exporter of ceramic tiles, ranking first in the world in total data, butThis is only reflected in volume, and its export unit price of ceramic tiles is still slightly lower than that of Spain. Italian ceramic tiles have maintained their dominant position in exports all year round because of their supreme quality and unique prices.
my country's cumulative export volume in 2020 was 43.696 billion yuan, a decrease of approximately 7.8% year-on-year in 2019. It was the lowest total export volume in the past five years except 2017. In contrast, China's cumulative imports of ceramic products in 2020 were approximately 7.9 billion yuan, an increase of 5% for five consecutive years.
Import and export trade declined in the first three quarters of this year
Statistics from relevant customs websites show that from January to June 2021, the import and export value of my country's sanitary ceramics trade was 27.490 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.84%, of which imports were 484 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 53.07%, and exports were 27.006 billion yuan. A year-on-year increase of 22.41%.
Inspired by the Industry 4.0 tax subsidy policy, Italy has invested huge funds in ceramic technology, making Italian ceramics occupy the high-end technology market and almost becoming synonymous with high-end products. Precisely because Italy's ceramic tile industry is an export-oriented industry, Italian ceramic exports have ranked first in the world for many years. In 2018, Italian ceramic tile exports accounted for 82% of the total, and exports accounted for 12% of the world's total exports.
Severely affected by the global COVID-19 epidemic, Italian ceramic tile production fell by 5% in 2020.
In September 2021, my country's total import and export of ceramic tiles was US$357 million, down 8.42% year-on-year; of which the total export volume was US$345 million, down 6.94% year-on-year, and the total import volume was US$1,217.81 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 36.79%. In the first three quarters of 2021, my country's total import and export of ceramic tiles was US$3.141 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.81%, of which exports were US$3.010 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.44%, and imports were US$131 million, a year-on-year increase of 15.27%.
Besieged from all sides, is one ceramic company the only one that imports ceramic tiles?
Although in the eyes of some front-line market personnel of imported ceramic companies, the situation of imported ceramic tiles and slates this year, especially in the last few months, is gratifying. However, relevant data from customs statistics show that, my country's ceramic tile imports in September 2021 were US$12.1781 million, compared with US$19.2659 million in the same period in 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 36.79%; in RMB, the imports were 78.5515 million yuan, compared with 133 million yuan in the same period last year , a year-on-year decrease of 41.06%.
In September, 399,100 square meters of domestically imported ceramic tiles were imported, with average prices of US$1.81/kg and US$30.51/㎡; in RMB, the average prices were 11.69 yuan/kg and 196.80 yuan/㎡. Among them, 354,400 square meters of ceramic tile products with HS code 69072190 of large slabs/rock slabs were imported, with an import value of US$11.1231 million and an average price of US$31.38/㎡.
my country's ceramic tile import statistics by category in September
(Data source: Customs)< /p>
It seems that the official data may be more convincing. But the dealer also has his own reason for saying: "Imported tiles and slate products are of good quality, each tile or slate has its own unique characteristics, and the price is not expensive." In contrast, imported slates and slates The ceramic tile business is in relatively better shape, and its prospects seem brighter.
"It is expected to continue to rise next year." This is the confidence of imported ceramic companies in the quality of their products. Whether they come from abroad or domestically, the quality of their products is always the basis for winning the market.
(Author: Shen Mingxin)
