With the coming of the production suspension season in Zibo production areas, the production plans of most ceramic companies in Zibo for this year are about to end. As of December 8, more than 20 ceramic companies in Zibo have stopped production. It is expected that by the end of December, Zibo ceramic companies will stop production for maintenance. Reaching more than 80%. For ceramic companies that have stopped production, on the one hand, they need to carry out maintenance and repairs on their production lines, and on the other hand, they need to adjust their production plans for next year.
As early as November, seven large-capacity medium plate production lines were started in Zibo and Linyi, Shandong, with a single-line designed daily production capacity of 35,000-40,000 square meters, which means that Shandong medium plate production areas Daily production capacity will be increased by at least 245,000 square meters next year.
Affected by the low price of medium plate, the overall sales situation of most interior wall tile manufacturers in Shandong this year is not as good as in previous years. With the further expansion of medium plate production capacity, it may have a greater impact on the production and sales of interior wall tiles next year.
Medium plate continues to expand production capacity
Interior wall brick line reduced by 33% in three years
In recent years, as market competition has become increasingly fierce, cost competition among ceramic companies has also intensified. Under this situation, the mid-board, which has a low-cost advantage, continues to erode the interior wall tile market. Especially this year, the overall sales situation of most interior wall tile manufacturers in Shandong is not optimistic. Not only has product sales declined, but many manufacturers have been forced to lower prices.
As the largest interior wall tile production base in China, interior wall tiles were once the "pride" of Shandong ceramic enterprises. According to statistical data from the 2011 "Ceramics Long March" national ceramic tile production capacity field survey, the scale of Shandong Province's construction ceramics industry reached its peak around2011. At that time, there were nearly 180 interior wall tile production lines in Shandong.
In the following years, affected by market reshuffle and local industrial policy adjustments, Shandong Province's interior wall tile production lines continued to shrink. As of November 2020, there are only 43 interior wall tile production lines left in Shandong. Now, with the conversion of the interior wall tile production lines of some ceramic companies in Zibo and Linyi to medium-sized boards, the interior wall tile production lines in Shandong Province will shrink again.
It is understood thatamong the 7 medium plate production lines currently under construction in Shandong Province,Five production lines were transformed from interior wall brick production lines. According to the 2020 field visit survey of the "Ceramic Industry Long March", in addition to Shandong Province, a large number of ceramic companies in other production areas plan to join the ranks of medium plate production next year.
It can be seen that next year, not only will the competition between mid-boards intensify, but it will also more or less affect the production and sales of interior wall tiles. At the same time, it is also destined that the price war next year will be more intense.
It is worth noting that the number of interior wall tile production lines nationwide has been shrinking year by year since 2014: In 2014, there were 786 interior wall tile production lines nationwide. By 2017 It dropped to 573 in 2020, and there are only 384 left in 2020. The number of interior wall tile production lines in 2020 has been reduced by 33% compared with 2017, and according to the ceramic company's line reconfiguration plan, the interior wall tile production lines will be further reduced.
Medium plate has high profit
Terminal dealers strongly recommend it?
A number of industry insiders in Shandong believe that due to the impact of the large-scale expansion of mid-board production, the current market price of interior wall tiles will continue next year, and prices will continue to decline.
“Next year, the volume and price of interior wall tiles will definitely drop, especially manufacturers with single channels and weak network layout will be the most affected.” said the general manager of a ceramics company in Zibo. In his view, the reason for the "fall in volume and price" of interior wall tiles is not only the low price of mid-board, but also has a lot to do with the perception of end consumers.
The above-mentioned general manager told "Ceramic Information" that terminal dealers are currently vigorously promoting mid-boards, which has resulted in the proportion of interior wall tiles in the terminal market becoming smaller and smaller. On the one hand, the sales profit of mid-board is higher than that of interior wall tiles. On the other hand, when selling mid-board, you can also make profit by selling tile adhesive, and the profit is relatively high. This has become an important factor for many dealers to promote mid-board. .
In addition, a person in charge of a ceramics company in Zibo who did not want to be named believes that although the medium plate will continue to divert part of the market for interior wall tiles next year, the impact of the medium plate on interior wall tiles will be limited. "Currently, the retail channel for interior wall tiles is most severely affected by medium-sized boards, while the engineering channel is less affected. Therefore, in addition to continuously improving its corporate advantages, its company will also continue to develop new marketing channels channels to minimize the impact of mid-tier companies on traditional sales channels.”
In fact, no matter what the market situation is next year, most interior wall tile manufacturers in Zibo are optimistic about the sales market next year. Many heads of ceramic companies said that under the current situation, manufacturers must not only make more efforts in engineering channels, but also appropriately adjust the proportion of exports and increase their overseas market share.
Nowadays, with the further expansion of medium plate production capacity, in addition to triggering a new round of tests for interior wall tiles, competition among medium plate manufacturers has also become more intense. Not only that, the sales pressure on terminal dealers will also gradually increase.
“Originally, there were few terminal mid-board sellers and there was little competitive pressure; but now more and more dealers are selling mid-boards. In order to increase sales, some dealers may adopt price reduction promotions, thus triggering a decline in the terminal market. The price war will eventually lead to further decline in the profits of terminal dealers," the general manager of the above-mentioned ceramic company told "Ceramic Information".
(The article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
