Gaoan City, Jiangxi Province, is a building ceramic industry base in China. During 30 years of developing local ceramic industry, Gaoan earns reputation as “Kingdom of Glazed Tiles” “Building Material County” “Emerging Porcelain City” etc.　　

A cold snap hits ceramic industry in pan-Gaoan this hot summer: sales ratio reduces to 60% or even lower; some companies suffer from high stock pressure; rumors about a ceramic enterprise going bankrupt are everywhere. This cold snap expands to the whole pan-Gaoan producing area, especially inkjet tiles, polished tiles, roll tiles and floor tiles.

Have to Stop Production?! 

An anonymous marketing director says: now price of inkjet tile falls to 3.2 yuan, while that of full polished glazed tile 22 yuan or so, both of which have been the lowest prices since last year. It is very hard to sell in spite of price adjustment or credit marketing, because it is also difficult for big dealers to sell in this gloomy market.

It is roughly estimated by Ceramic Town Weekly (CTW) that, as of mid-July in pan-Gaoan producing area, nearly 40 production lines have already stopped production while about 20 ones may stop in August. During the summer crops harvesting, the companies that have to stop production give their workers a long break and monthly wages of 700~800 yuan.

Famous Brands Remain Stable!

However, this cold snap doesn’t seem to affect some famous local brands, like Taiyang Ceramics, Jingcheng Ceramics or Pujing Ceramics, which have smooth sales channels, distinctive product system and good reputation in market. Their sales ratio can still reach 80%, though the prices of some products are even higher than before.

Hu Yao, marketing general manager of Taiyang Ceramics, says: sales ratio of our company reaches 80% in this off-season. According to industry insiders, it takes 3 years for Jingcheng Ceramics to become “No.1 Export Brand in Central China” and have good reputation in Foshan City since “Gaoan Ceramic Export Forum”, which was co-organized by Jingcheng Ceramics and CTW.

Editor Deng Shiya

This is the 15th issue.