In 2020, COVID-19 broke out across the world, but it did not seem to affect the development of the ceramic industry. Especially in the second half of 2020, production gradually got back on track, and the suppressed consumer demand for ceramic tiles was slowly released.
According to incomplete statistics, more than 70 production lines have been newly signed in the Indian market in the second half of 2020; Spanish ceramic sales may also see positive growth, and the increase may even reach 2%...
More than 70 production lines are to be built in India
After the production capacity is released, the total annual production capacity will be close to 2 billion square meters
“Since the second half of 2020, the sales and construction of ceramic production lines in the Indian market have been extremely hot.” Wu Junliang, director of brand marketing of Litai, said that due to the impact of the epidemic in the first half of 2020, local ceramic tile consumption was suppressed. In the second half of the year, as market consumption The gradual release of the epidemic, especially after the epidemic stabilizes, the Indian market will usher in rapid growth in both ceramic tile consumption and production line construction.
According to continuous media reports, the epidemic situation in India has not been optimistic for more than a year. The number of new confirmed cases every day has continued to rise, and all walks of life have been hit to varying degrees.
However, the overall performance of Indian ceramics in 2020 is unexpected. Not only is its domestic sales performance satisfactory, but its export situation is also very good, especially in markets such as the Middle East and South America.
Wu Junliang revealed that according to incomplete statistics, there are more than 70 production lines planned to be built in India in 2020 (purchase and sales contracts have been signed), mainly producing 600×600mm, 600×1200mm, 800×800mm and other specifications of glazed tiles, single line The daily production capacity is approximately 15,000 square meters, including two large/slab production lines.
In fact, because the production capacity of more than 200 new production lines in 2016 and 2017 needs a digestion period, the Indian ceramic industry basically stopped the pace of production capacity expansion in 2018 and 2019, leaving room for the subsequent expansion of building ceramic production capacity across India. The gap period is also one of the important reasons why the construction of new production lines in the Indian market will be booming in 2020.
“One of the important strategies for the Litai brand in overseas markets this year is to do its best to meet the order needs of customers in the Indian market with quality and quantity.” Wu Junliang said frankly that in August and September 2020, driven by the good market trends in India, The Litai brand has been favored by a large number of customers, and many orders have even been scheduled until September this year.
The actual scene of Litai brand’s complete engineering production line in India.
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated the process of survival of the fittest among Chinese ceramic construction equipment brands in the global market, and the trend of the strong staying strong will become increasingly obvious. "Wu Junliang said that even though global shipping costs have skyrocketed due to the epidemic, it has not affected overseas customers' enthusiasm for purchasing China's excellent equipment. After this battle, the reputation and market share of China's excellent equipment manufacturers in the Indian market will surely move to a new level. height.
Based on the actual situation of current equipment delivery, Wu Junliang believes that this part of the new production capacity will be released at the end of 2021 and the first half of 2022. With the release of this part of the production capacity, India’s annual ceramic tile production capacity will be infinitely close to 2 billion ㎡.
The production and sales rate is nearly 100%
Spanish ceramic tile exports have grown significantly
According to preliminary estimates from the Spanish National Trade Association, driven by exports from markets such as the United States, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Spanish ceramic tile sales in 2020 will be basically close to 3.757 billion euros (approximately equivalent to 29.084 billion yuan) in 2019. The year-on-year change is expected to be between -1% and +2%, which is far from the 6% growth target at the beginning of 2020.
As of March 6, 2021, the top ten cumulative confirmed cases of overseas epidemic statistics:
In fact, as of March 6, 2021, the United States, India, Brazil, France, Spain, Germany and other countries are still severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. Against this background, how can Spanish ceramic tile sales achieve an increase or decrease of -1% to +2%?
According to Vicente Nomdedeu, chairman of the Spanish National Trade Association, when the epidemic broke out in March and April 2020, the Spanish ceramic industry was the most affected, with sales halving year-on-year.
Since then, driven by the international market, Spanish ceramic tile overseas sales have gradually recovered. In contrast, Spain has experienced an even more sluggish situation and cannot return to normal levels.
Spanish ceramic tile exports have always accounted for about 75% of the total ceramic tile turnover. In 2020, benefiting from the rapid recovery of overseas markets, the country's ceramic tile exports are likely to reach 28.1 in 2019800 million euros, an increase of 1-4%, while domestic sales may fall by 4-7%.
At the same time, Spanish ceramic tile production in 2020 also decreased by 3-4% compared to 2019's 510 million square meters. Affected by the reduction in production, the ceramic factory in Castellón, the Spanish ceramic production area, achieved a balance between supply and demand and significantly reduced inventory.
As of October 2020, Spanish ceramic tile sales to the United States, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries have achieved positive growth, with the largest increase reaching 71.3%.
In the first 10 months of 2020, Spanish ceramic tile sales to the United States increased significantly, with an increase of 15.1%, surpassing France to become the largest export destination market, while France also increased by 1.8% year-on-year; while exports to Germany, before 2020 October's gain was 16.6%.
Due to the anti-dumping investigations carried out by Gulf countries against India and China, Spanish ceramic tile exports to Saudi Arabia increased by 71.3%. By November, Spain’s exports to Saudi Arabia had even increased by 90.8%, while the United Arab Emirates increased by 52.6% year-on-year. .
In contrast, the UK is one of the foreign markets where Spanish exports have declined, mainly due to the epidemic. Its sales to the UK fell by 9.8% at the end of October 2020, but recovered a little by the end of November, down only 4.5%.
(The article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
