In just a few years, a kind of glazed tile is produced by the process of polishing glazed tiles, but the thickness is 7-8.5mm between conventional ceramic tiles and thin plates, and the water absorption rate is 0.5%-3%. It is used for wall paving. New products are popping up like mushrooms after a rain.
According to incomplete statistics, as of mid-October this year, there were more than 110 mid-board production lines nationwide. This new category that has emerged in recent years is rapidly replacing porcelain tiles as the main product for wall tiles, which has also led to the demise of porcelain tiles. The discussion was once very popular.
There are over 110 medium plate lines nationwide
Porcelain tile line has shrunk by more than 40% in six years
Medium plate, as early as the end of 2016, originated from Fujian and Jiangxi.
At that time, affected by the national macro-policy, the market share of exterior wall tiles was shrinking. In order to find a unique and differentiated path, a group of exterior wall tile manufacturers in Jiangxi and Fujian used technological transformation to produce and use them for interior and exterior wall paving. New products, Jiangxi Xinruijing, Jin Taiyuan and other companies that launched this type of products earlier initially defined them as thin plates.
After 2017, more and more companies launched similar products, and the concept of mid-board was gradually clarified. At this time, not only exterior wall tile companies, but also floor tile companies have joined the mid-board camp in order to relieve production capacity pressure.
In just three years, mid-board has developed from an emerging personalized product to one of the main categories today.
As of mid-October, there are more than 110 medium plate production lines across the country. Among them, Jiangxi already has 42 medium plate lines with a daily production capacity of 862,000 square meters. The production capacity accounts for more than 15% of the total production capacity of Jiangxi ceramic tiles, almost keeping pace with porcelain tiles.
The production lines of enterprises in Jinjiang and Nan'an in Fujian, another leading medium plate production area, have small production capacity and flexible production conversion. It is very common for the same production line to mix and burn multiple products. In fact, the number of production lines that can produce medium plate is far more than 12.
In addition, there are many medium-plate production lines under construction or planned to be built in production areas such as Jiangxi and Sichuan.
In sharp contrast to the rapid rise of medium-sized boards, the decline of porcelain tiles is accelerating.
In 2014, there were 786 porcelain tile production lines in the country. It is the largest category after polished tiles in terms of number of production lines but far ahead in production capacity. In the following three years, the number of porcelain tile production lines decreased by 213, and polished glazed tiles and antique tiles were replaced. beyond.
According to the latest statistical data from the "Ceramic Industry Long March V-2020 China Tile Production Capacity Survey" jointly organized by the China Building and Sanitary Ceramics Association and "Ceramic Information": In the three years from 2017 to 2020, only Shandong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Xinjiang, Liaoning, and Zhaoqing, Guangdong have reduced the number of porcelain tile production lines by more than 120. Among the slightly larger production areas, the only emerging production area in Guangxi has achieved net growth in porcelain tile production lines, but only one net increase. The major ceramic production areas of Sichuan, Henan and most of Guangdong have not yet been included in the statistics, but it is an indisputable fact that production lines have been significantly reduced.
Based on known data, there are currently less than 450 porcelain tile production lines in the country. Compared with six years ago, the production lines have shrunk by more than 40%, and in the above-mentioned production areas, there are still many porcelain tile production lines that have been idle for long periods of time. , so the actual reduction in production lines is even greater.
The decade of the rise of glazed tiles
It was the decade when porcelain tiles declined
In the past two years, due to the rapid rise of mid-plate, voices of mid-plate impacting the market share of ceramic tiles have been heard one after another in the industry. However, it can be seen from the above data that during the period from 2014 to 2017, when the shrinkage of the ceramic tile production line was the most serious, the medium plate was just beginning to emerge.
Some insiders analyze that the rapid shrinkage of porcelain tiles, especially since 2016, the sales of mid-to-high-end porcelain tiles have dropped significantly, which is an inevitable result of the industry. Mainly because porcelain tiles are ceramic tiles with high water absorption, and their physical properties are difficult to compare with those of low-absorption floor tiles. Problems such as glaze cracking, staining, and breakage frequently occur within just a few years of use. Therefore, more and more consumers are choosing alternative products. In addition to exterior materials such as wallpaper and composite boards, there are also floor tiles such as glazed tiles and antique tiles for walls.
“The rise of glazed tiles coincided with the decade when porcelain tiles declined.” Shi Rongbo, design director of Xiejin Enterprises, who has been engaged in the research and development of porcelain tiles for many years, believes that about 10 years ago, it was the peak period of porcelain tiles, but since then, glazed tiles have declined. The emergence and rapid development of glazed tiles has changed the fate of porcelain tiles to a great extent.
With the rapid promotion of inkjet printing technology, glazed tiles have become the most popular product in the industry. From 2011 to 2017, the number of new production lines increased at an average rate of 100 per year. It is also constantly being innovated.
While the innovation of glazed tiles is advancing rapidly, the emergence and promotion of tile adhesives, adhesives and other auxiliary materials have broken the boundaries between floor tiles and wall tiles from a technical level. Wall tile paving is no longer limited to the use of high water absorption rates. Ceramic bricks, that is, porcelain tiles.
Beautiful decorative effects, stronger physical properties, and easier cleaning have led to glazed tiles being widely cut and used on walls. In addition, in recent years, products such as antique bricks and large slabs have also been used on walls. For surface decoration, in the mid-to-high-end market, floor tiles have greatly replaced the share of ceramic tiles.
According to Shi Rongbo’s observation and speculation, 5 or 6 years ago, porcelain tiles were still the absolute product for interior wall decoration, butIt has declined by more than 50% in just 5 or 6 years. This speculation is supported by the above data.
Compared with the standard glazed tiles but "beating" the ceramic tiles
Although the direct cause of the shrinkage of the porcelain tile market is not the rise of mid-plate, there is no doubt that the emergence and large-scale promotion of mid-plate has become another "nightmare" for the already struggling porcelain tiles.
The above-mentioned number of medium plates seems to be almost the same as the shrinking number of ceramic tiles. However, most of the medium plate production lines are glazed tiles, exterior wall tiles, and polished tile production lines that have been converted through technical transformation. Only a small part are original ceramic tiles. The above reduction Most of the ceramic tile production lines exit directly.
In the second half of 2017, mid-board began to become "popular" in Jiangxi. At that time, many floor tile manufacturers with production and sales pressure also joined the ranks of mid-board. Their purpose was to seize the main share of wall and floor tiles. The biggest goal is to The most popular glazed tiles.
Before the popularity of the medium plate, it was a common phenomenon for 800×800mm glazed tiles to be cut into two parts. Therefore, as soon as the medium plate came out, 400×800mm was used as the main specification, which not only satisfied the needs of consumers who choose polished tiles. The texture and grade required for glazed tiles to be installed on the wall also avoid the defects caused by cutting and chamfering of glazed tiles. Since the production process is the same as that of glazed tiles, the medium plate is often considered to be a smaller and thinner glazed tile.
Compared with porcelain tiles, the medium plate has higher strength and does not have the problem of glaze cracking that porcelain tiles are prone to, so it is quickly becoming popular.
At the construction level, the advantage of mid-board over glazed tiles on the wall is not only that it does not require cutting, but also due to the product's water absorption, thickness, weight, etc., the cost of laying mid-board is lower and it is safer.
Changes at the manufacturer level also determine that mid-boards can go further than porcelain tiles. Due to the continuous implementation of "coal-to-gas" policies across the country, ceramic tile production costs have continued to rise. As a product with severe overcapacity and fierce competition, profit margins for ceramic tiles have long been minimal. Therefore, more and more ceramic tile production lines have chosen to exit.
In order to reduce production costs and increase profit margins, many manufacturers of glazed tiles, polished tiles, and antique tiles have switched to producing medium-sized tiles. Compared with the popular large slabs, rock slabs, and thin slabs that require heavy investment, the transformation of medium slab line is technically less difficult, the investment cost is low, and the production is more stable, so manufacturers are more willing to promote it.
Shi Rongbo revealed that as a company that started out as a company specializing in the production of porcelain tiles, Guangdong Xiejin was still a company that only produced porcelain tiles five years ago. Last year, it started to produce medium plates. Now, two of the three production lines at the Zhaoqing base have been modified. It produces medium-sized plates, and the remaining one will probably be converted to produce medium-sized plates according to market demand. Current tilesAccounting for only 20% of Xiejin's sales. "Nowadays, medium plates are used instead of porcelain tiles. Our customers now only want medium plates, and it is difficult to take orders for porcelain tiles."
Although the mid-board is designed to match the standard glazed tiles on the wall, because its performance is better than that of porcelain tiles, and its specifications are similar to those of porcelain tiles, it seizes more of the market share of porcelain tiles, causing the production and sales rate of porcelain tiles to shrink at an accelerated rate . Some insiders believe that during the 2 to 3 years when mid-plate became popular, at least 40% of the reduced market share of ceramic tiles was replaced by mid-plate.
Nowadays, the specifications of medium plates are no longer limited to the early conventional specifications such as 400×800mm, 300×600mm, etc., nor are they limited to glazed surfaces. More differentiated mid-board products with specifications such as 600×1200mm, 750×1500mm and antique surfaces are also gradually promoted.
Porcelain tiles will become a niche product
Or make a comeback through engineering channels?
Porcelain tiles not only face the impact of higher-performance substitute products such as mid-boards, floor tiles for walls, wallpapers, and composite boards, but their own vicious competition has also caused irreversible consequences.
Some people in the industry believe that the ex-factory price of 300×600mm ceramic tiles can reach more than 10 yuan per piece at its peak. Nowadays, there are many manufacturers who sell 300×600mm tiles at 3 to 4 yuan/piece, and some even sell them for less than 3 yuan/piece. The problem that arises is that in order to maintain a certain profit margin, many manufacturers save costs during the production process, resulting in frequent quality problems with ceramic tiles. Despite this, in the context of rising costs such as environmental protection, raw materials, cartons, and transportation in recent years, the profit margins of conventional products have been repeatedly compressed, with porcelain tiles bearing the brunt. So will porcelain tiles simply decline or even be completely replaced by medium panels and other new wall decoration materials?
With the growing number of alternative materials, especially the impact of mid-plate, porcelain tiles seem to be becoming more and more "unpopular", and even the "death theory" of porcelain tiles is emerging one after another.
Tan Xiaowen, general manager of marketing of Jiangjun Enterprise, once said in an interview with "Ceramic Information" that the decline in demand for porcelain tiles is first of all the decline in the mid-to-high-end market, which is mainly due to the decline in mid-board, glazed tiles, and antique tiles. Walls have replaced them, but the mid- to low-end market is relatively stable.
The implementation of the hard-decorated room policy has reserved a lot of living space for porcelain tiles. Industry insiders believe that more than half of the current sales of porcelain tiles come from centralized engineering procurement. In addition, the vast rural areas and third- and fourth-tier cities are also the main markets for ceramic tiles.
It is reported that although there is a price war momentum for mid-board, its price is still much higher than that of cheap porcelain tiles, so real estate developers will still choose porcelain tiles as wall decoration materials. Tan Xiaowen even believes that with the hardcoverAs the proportion of housing continues to increase, the market share of ceramic tiles will rebound.
In the mid-to-high-end retail market, Shi Rongbo believes that porcelain tiles will eventually become a niche product like tiles. "Some very distinctive ceramic tiles, such as tiles with mold effects or small sizes, are still very beautiful in small apartment decoration."
(The article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
