Since 2004, after India's first anti-dumping of building ceramics against China, anti-dumping measures against Chinese ceramic tiles from various countries in the world have followed, followed by South Korea, the European Union, Thailand, Argentina, etc., all of which were the main issues before Chinese ceramics. The export market, to a large extent, has a great impact on the rapid development of ceramic tile export trade. From January to May 2018, China exported 5.21 million tons of building ceramics, a year-on-year decrease of 2.6%. Looking at the past five years, China's building ceramics exports have an average compound growth rate of -2.95%.

Two factors

Export volume declines

   China's ceramic tile exports continued to decline, mainly due to two main factors, internal and external.

   Internal Cause:

   1. The continuous rise in domestic labor costs, the increasing environmental protection pressure and environmental protection investment, and the substantial increase in the cost of production and logistics, leading to the continuous increase in the export cost of ceramic tiles;

   2. The domestic ceramic tile export market is chaotic, and the overall international image of Chinese ceramic tiles has not been improved enough, causing many international buyers to question our products and markets.

   External factors:

   1. The gradual saturation of the international market and the impact of the current international economic environment have led to a direct decline in the willingness and purchasing power of the international building materials market;

   2. Emerging ceramic tile producing countries, such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, etc., have a large number of low-priced products, seize a part of the international low-priced products market, and form a direct competition trend with China;

   3. Due to fuel oil and some regional regulations, the additional cost of exports has been increasing.

Three directions

The future of tile exports

   Under the influence of all kinds of unfavorable factors, how can our ceramic tile products break through and recreate glory? This is a question that every one of our employees has to think about. The rise and development of China's ceramic tile industry, production technology and equipment technology have reached the international advanced level, we should transition from the original low-priced market share export thinking to a new export model.

   Therefore, the future of China's ceramic tile exports needs to develop in three directions: brand, professional and service, and complete the transition from "Made in China" to "Made in China".

   "Brand" = intensive cultivation of brand loyalty. Low prices are no longer an advantage of China, and brands are. By exporting its country's "imported brand" image, it can seize the mid- to high-end market. With the continuous development of the industry, Chinese ceramics has reached the international advanced level in terms of design, technology, and technology. What is needed now is to brand our own products for export, to allow export-oriented enterprises to operate in accordance with the branding route, and establish international brands. Image, export products while exporting corporate culture and corporate values, increase product added value, inject emotional driving force, enhance the brand's competitiveness in the international market, gradually get rid of the harsh competitive environment of the low-end market, and enable the healthy development of enterprises and products.

   In 2016, Asian tile demand reached 8.818 billion square meters, equivalent to 69% of global tile consumption. Asia has always been China ’s largest export market, and China ’s advantage in close proximity can be used to enhance brand output, cultivate brand loyalty in the market, seize mid-to-high-end markets, and avoid low-price competition in emerging Southeast Asian producers. It also fills the gap between high-end Italian and Spanish high-end production products and low-end products. The current international tile pattern has also changed. The core of exports is to use the differentiation of products and values to obtain the market. Targeted export of corporate brand value according to the needs of different countries and regions, and get rid of purely relying on product price competition. As for how to cultivate brand loyalty in the market, this topic will have the opportunity to discuss with you in the future.

   "Professional" = focus and extreme. As the saying goes, "there is a specialization in the surgery industry." In the current diversified international market competition environment, no business can complete the business of all customers, and no company can produce and sell products of all categories. The traditional trade model is "determine production with sales", that is to say-I sell whatever the customer needs, at best it is a buyer. Because the needs of the international market are diversified, and it is very important that market demand is often not transferable by the will of the seller.

   Passively based on market demand, it will definitely become a vicious endless cycle: it will be more and more categories, and the cost of manpower and capital invested in product research and development will continue to increase, but market demand will continue to change and fall into The contradiction between the vicious low-price competition of a certain category, the vitality and development of the enterprise are slowly exhausted in this resistance and elimination. Specialization means focusing on a certain area of its own advantages, constantly exploring product and market potential, intensive cultivation and better control of costs, so as to preserve its advantages in international competition. When the market begins to change, it means the creation of opportunities and challenges. Although it is full of uncertainties, because of its specialization, it has a strong advantage in the market segment, and it is constantly changing.

   "Service" = Customer Relationship Management CRM. This concept was rarely put forward in the field of export before, but with the continuous increase and deepening of international trade, service will gradually become the largest added value of products, and trade service is the industrial upgrading of ceramic tile export trade. Full service for customers and customer markets is the promotion of traditional product sales. This has high requirements for exporting companies. In addition to being familiar with products and controlling product quality, they must also be familiar with local import laws and regulations, international trade provisions, real-time trends in international logistics, and international trade and finance. Knowledge. "Time is the biggest cost." You save time for your customers, and your customer's costs are reduced, and your profits and competitiveness increase. Through forward-looking exploration of the international market, timely develop sales and development plans suitable for him and his market for customers; avoid trade risks, accelerate customer funds, and logistics turnover rates, which should be incorporated into new trade services. Putting the service in front and the product in the back, so that you can firmly grasp the opportunities in export trade, bring more market share for your customers, and make yourself gain more market share in the local market.

   All in all, the current ceramic tile export market is still in a chaotic and changeable turbulent period. The industry should continue to standardize international trade operations. The industry should unite to fight against unfair trade fortresses and strengthen our brand awareness. Break out of trouble.