In recent years, some cities have restricted the use of exterior tiles on high buildings and the types of tiles have been profoundly enriched. So, this year, the market sees an obvious slump in the sales of exterior tiles. As Fujian is the main production area of exterior tiles in China, it is doubtlessly that the ceramic companies in this area will be impacted the most.

Irreversible Declining Sales of Exterior Tiles

It is estimated that exterior tiles in Fujian have declined by over 70% this year. The ceramic company should count their fortunate if they have just seen a 50% reduction in the sales of exterior tiles. Actually, the ceramic contractors and wholesalers are having a difficult time in Fujian.

Such claims have been backed up by the general manager of Fujian Rongzhou Ceramic Co., ltd., WU Zhenming. He said , different ceramic companies and different types of exterior tiles have been influenced at different degrees. Some ceramic companies have managed to maintain the sales of exterior tiles by developing new types. However, there is an irreversible plunge in the sales of exterior tiles. 

LIN Ying, the sales manager of Zhengyifang Ceramics Co., Ltd., said the small colorful exterior tiles haven’t been affected a lot as they can be applied in high and low building. But, as the market of exterior tiles has been shrunk severely and the low-price competition has also become fiercer, the ceramic companies involved are struggling to survive. 

The sales man of Haoshan Building Materials Co., Ltd., HE Xinzhang, said, “It is estimated that our sales of exterior wall tiles have been declined by 40%. The colorful one in 45×95(mm) saw a comparatively small reduction. The reason is that it is mainly produced in Fujian and its market is in Fujian and Guangdong. Anyway, as there are more and more diversified exterior wall tiles and coatings which can supplement the exterior wall tiles, it is inevitable that many production lines for exterior tiles in Fujian will be closed."

What Next for These Companies?  

As exterior wall tiles are not selling well, ceramic companies must fight their ways out of this bad situation. Here are some viable solutions. 

As we all know, the ceramic companies in Fujian are good at producing rustic tiles which has the biggest market share in the nation. However, as these ceramic companies mainly produce rustic tiles for low-end customers, their rustic tiles are low value-added as well. In other words, the prices for their rustic tiles are very low. However, the low-price competition makes things worse. But if the ceramic companies that produce exterior wall tiles can gradually shift their production lines to produce rustic tiles which are high value-added, they may gain new opportunities in the market. 

In addition to changing the lines of exterior wall tiles, they can also try to develop a new business mode. That is to produce niche tiles which have special characters and can be customized. But it is noteworthy that there are  stricter requirements of producing such kind of tiles. So ceramic companies may need to spend more time to make niche tiles well so as to attract enough customers to improve their sales. Anyway, as Chinese government advocates to develop characteristic towns around the country, the special customized exterior wall tiles may have a bright future in the market.

Author: XU Dahua