On October 24, the National Bureau of Statistics website released the latest news. my country’s GDP in the first three quarters was 87,026.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.0%. The overall economy showed a recovery trend. The production of the industrial construction industry, which is closely related to the construction and ceramics industry, is continuing to recover. The added value of the manufacturing industry increased by 3.2% year-on-year, and the added value of the construction industry increased by 4.8% year-on-year.
According to public information statistics, Zhongtaojun shows that since 2022, a total of 55 ceramic production lines (including new additions and technical improvements) have been put into production across the country, and the number has decreased significantly compared with last year. Relevant data shows that in 2021, there will be more than 142 new construction ceramic production lines across the country (including public planning, start of construction, ignition, and commissioning).
Some industry insiders believe that 2022 is a special year in the history of architectural ceramics. The industry structure is changing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and "replacement of old and new" has become the main theme of industry development. This phenomenon can also be seen from the production line projects that have been put into production.
Jiangxi production areas have been frustrated in catching up with Guangdong
As early as 2017, the Jiangxi production area surpassed the Fujian production area with an annual production capacity of 1.7 billion square meters, confirming its "status" as the second largest ceramics production area in the country. Since then, Guangdong production areas have become the next target for Jiangxi production areas to catch up.
Data from the "2020 Ceramic Industry Long March V - China Ceramic Tile Production Capacity Survey" show that in 2020, the proportion of ceramic tile (excluding roof tiles) production capacity in various production areas across the country, Guangdong production areas ranked first with a share of 25.52% . In 2021, a total of 43 new production lines were added in Jiangxi production areas, while 38 new production lines were added in Guangdong production areas. The latter's production capacity still has the upper hand.
Picture source: Ceramic Information
Judging from the distribution of production lines that will be put into operation in 2022, the Guangdong production area ranks first with 18, and the remaining new production lines in each production area are all in single digits, including 9 in Jiangxi and 9 in Fujian. , 6 in Guangxi, 4 in Sichuan, 2 in Shandong, 2 in Shanxi, Jiangsu,Gansu, Chongqing, Henan, and Hunan each have one.
Currently, the production areas in Jiangxi are in the difficult situation of intensifying price wars and soaring energy prices. In addition, a large number of production lines have been converted to produce lithium batteries. The Guangdong production area, relying on many advantages such as innovation and brand power, continues to dig deeper into the research and development and production of high-end products to enhance product value. From this point of view, Jiangxi production areas may fail to catch up with Guangdong production areas in terms of production capacity.
The boom in rock slab production is still warm
In the second half of 2019, a hurricane called "slate" blew up in the construction and ceramics industry. For a time, domestic slate production lines showed explosive growth.
Some media reported that a total of 55 ceramic companies across the country have publicly announced plans to add 120 slate production lines in 2020. In 2021, 91 new rock slab/thin slab/large slab production lines were added across the country, accounting for 64% of the total new production lines that year. Since the beginning of the year, more than 28 slate/thin plate/large slab production lines have been newly put into operation, and there are also many ceramic companies that have publicly invested in the construction of slate production lines.
At the end of August, the relevant person in charge of Italy's Citti Bernte Group visited the production base of Belite Ceramics Group in Anyang, Henan. It is understood that the cooperation project reached by the two parties mainly involves the production of oversized slate slabs and ultra-thin large-sized ceramic tiles. The total investment of this project is about 500 million yuan. Once completed, it will fill the gap in large-scale rock slabs in the central China production area.
Recently, Lingbiao Technology in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province carried out technical transformation to add additional glaze lines to the original slate production line. After the transformation, each production line is equipped with 2 glaze lines and 6 Italian System inkjet machines. , one production line can produce rock slabs with more specifications and more technical surfaces. It can be seen that rock slab production lines are also gradually advancing towards flexible customization.
The rise of overseas production areas is obvious
Shifting their vision from domestic to global, more and more ceramic companies in my country are keen to invest and build factories in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, North America, South America and other regions, and are targeting emerging overseas markets.
It is understood that ceramic companies investing and building factories overseas involve many production areas such as Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Hubei.These include powerful ceramic companies such as Keda Manufacturing, Wangkang Group, Times Ceramics, Ouya Industry, Marco Polo, Qiangsheng Ceramics, and Xinmei Ceramics. According to incomplete statistics, these ceramic companies have invested more than 10 billion yuan in overseas production bases since 2019.
Take Keda Manufacturing as an example. Keda Manufacturing has joined hands with Guangzhou Senda to expand into the African market and operates multiple ceramic factories in five countries: Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Senegal, and Zambia. As of mid-2022, a total of 14 production lines have been built.
In 2022, a total of six companies in Fujian and Shandong have successfully registered for new or additional investment in ceramic production line projects in Saudi Arabia, Peru, Jordan, Ghana and other countries. It can be seen that although China's ceramic tile production capacity is gradually declining, global ceramic tile production capacity and market demand are still growing further, and the conditions for Chinese ceramic enterprises to "go global" are becoming increasingly mature.
//////
Whether it is transforming and upgrading to follow the path of sustainable development, taking advantage of emerging categories to overtake others, or expanding its production capacity overseas to tap the international market, it is a manifestation of the industry's good development. So the question is, judging from the current situation, do you think the construction and ceramics industry will enter a cold winter in the fourth quarter of 2022?
