Recently, "Ceramic Information" learned during a production capacity survey in the Sichuan production area that the ancient blue green tile, a special product that once set off a craze in the Pan-Jiajiang production area, has fallen out of favor in the past two years.Now it is still available There are less than 10 manufacturers that can produce normally, prices have fallen to the bottom, and the lowest profit is only 1 cent. Since this year, green tile manufacturers have started and stopped, and only a few can produce at full capacity.
At its peak, there were more than 30 companies producing blue tiles
“The market was particularly hot in 2015 and 2016. There were more than 30 green tile manufacturers in Jiajiang and Danling, and their products could be exported to Shandong, Hebei and even Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia and Northeast China. region. ”Talking about the development history of Jiajiang Qingwa, the person in charge of a Qingwa company in Danling still remembers the glorious scene of trucks queuing up to pull goods.
It is reported that ancient blue tiles are not a new product in Sichuan. Traditional blue tiles are pressed by hand and fired in traditional tile kilns. In 2012, Yuanda Porcelain began to use tunnel kilns to replace traditional tile kilns for firing ancient blue tiles.
Around 2015, the central and western regions, especially the surrounding Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places, generated huge market demand due to the construction of new rural areas, and the ancient blue tile industry ushered in a "spring". At that time, not only was the demand huge, most of them were purchased for public projects, but the price was also much higher than traditional ceramic tiles, which were locked in a price war. Therefore, a large number of ceramic companies, especially the exterior wall tile companies that have suffered the most serious decline, have changed their business lines to Gujian Qingwa.
For a time, a large number of Qingwa enterprises such as Jincheng, Xingda, Yuanda, Huangcheng, Superstar, Keda, Mingyang, Yisheng, Yongqiang, Chengxin, Aihua, Foda and so on emerged together,Pan The Jiajiang production area has formed the largest industrial cluster of ancient blue tiles in the country.
There are less than 10 Qingwa companies left
But the "price war" is still fierce
“Everyone rushes forward. If there is overcapacity, we can only engage in price wars. Those who suffer heavy losses will withdraw, and those who survive will suffer.”A person in charge of a green tile manufacturer in Jiajiang said, The booming market for ancient blue tiles in Jiajiang only lasted for more than a year, with only more than 10 manufacturers still producing blue tiles, and the others have gradually changed their production to other products or even shut down.
According to the 2017 statistical data of "Ceramic Information", at the end of that yearThere are 18 green tile manufacturers in the Pan-Jiajiang production area, with 24 production lines, and a daily production capacity of 3.48 million pieces. Outside the Pan-Jiajiang production area, only Weiyuan County has 2 green tile lines.
This production capacity is still in excess despite the relatively saturated market demand. It is reported thatthe price of 200×200mm series ancient building green tiles in 2017 was as high as 0.4 yuan/piece, but in 2018, some companies have sold it to less than 0.2 yuan/piece," This has simply fallen below the cost price.”During the interview, a person in charge of the blue tile manufacturer revealed that the Jiajiang Western Porcelain Capital Ceramics Association has also called on companies to abandon price wars and engage in healthy competition, but in supply. In a market environment where demand is greater than demand, we can only let it go.
According to the latest statistics from "Ceramic Information", there are currently only 7 professional antique companies left in the pan-Jiajiang production area: Jiajiang Yisheng, Zhongheng, Danling Zhengyuanheng, Huarui (Aihua), Jincheng, Foda, and Hongya Huabin. Jianqing tile manufacturers, Shunyi and Kaige mainly produce green tile accessories, the total number is less than 10. The two Qingwa Lines in Weiyuan County have also been withdrawn long ago, and Jiajiang Xingda and Danling Daya Ancient Building have been suspended since 2019. In addition, Yuanda Porcelain, the leading enterprise of ancient blue tiles, currently has two production lines mainly producing green bricks (exterior wall tiles), and also produces blue tiles. Mingyang Ceramics also specializes in the production of green bricks.
Although there are currently fewer Panjiajiang green tile production lines, in the past three years, most companies have carried out technical transformation or even reconstruction of their production lines to increase production capacity. Therefore, there are currently 9 companies The production capacity of the 15 green tiles and accessories lines is almost the same as in 2017, and the fierce competition in green tiles has not been alleviated.
The sales radius continues to shrink
Profits are as low as 1 cent/piece
It is understood that the main reason why Qingwa enterprises in the pan-Jiajiang production area are struggling is not only the overcapacity caused by the local swarm of swarms, but also factors at more levels.
"The demand is less now. It didn't exist in Yunnan and Guizhou before, but now it is built, and it is also available in Hubei." The person in charge of Jincheng Porcelain told "Ceramic Information", At present, not only the surrounding provinces, such as Hubei, Anhui, Green tile manufacturers have been established in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other regions, and the sales radius of pan-Jiajiang blue tiles has been shrinking.
At the same time, there are fewer and fewer new rural construction government engineering procurement projects that once provided a market for the rise of pan-Jiajiang Qingwa, resulting in a significant reduction in demand.
More importantly, in sharp contrast to the shrinking market is the rise in production costs. Especially in 2017, Jiajiang and Danling completed the "coal-to-gas" transition, which became the main factor forcing most green tile manufacturers to withdraw.
“For our industry, the most important cost is natural gas. After switching to natural gas in 2017, more than 10 factories in Jiajiang stopped working. We were the first batch to switch to natural gas. , Danleng only changed it at the end of the year. The difference is huge. Gas is still cheaper than ours, and other provinces are still burning coal.”
The person in charge of a green tile manufacturer in Jiajiang calculated an account based on the example of a small-sized green tile produced with a price of less than 0.2 yuan/piece: "The gas consumption cost of each piece accounts for 60% of the selling price, including raw materials, labor, water, electricity, and equipment losses, the profit per piece is less than 1 cent. If the price increases, Qingwa will lose money if the price does not increase, but it does not happen now. It would be good if the price can be reduced. ”
It is reported that the sales situation of blue tiles has been particularly sluggish this year. Among the less than 10 blue tile companies left in Panjiajiang, only 2 to 3 can produce at full capacity, and the rest are operating intermittently. The lowest operating rate was even less than 2 months.
In order to reduce costs, Jiajiang Qingwa Enterprise has taken a variety of measures. For example, Jiajiang Yisheng, whose original daily production capacity was only about 150,000 pieces, Danling Jincheng, Zhengyuanheng and other manufacturers have increased their single-line daily production capacity to 300,000 to 500,000 pieces. "If costs cannot be reduced, we can only increase production capacity. In the past, when coal was burned, it was a small kiln, but when it was converted to natural gas, it was changed to a large kiln." said the person in charge of Yisheng Porcelain.
In addition, in order to save the cost of powdering, dry powdering instead of drying tower is also a common practice in Qingwa and Xiwa enterprises. The person in charge of Yisheng Porcelain Industry said that using dry powdering, each tile can save 1 to 2 Divide the cost.
(The article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
