Articles

Supported by gains in the U.S. construction and housing markets and robust overall economic growth, U.S. ceramic tile consumption increased for the first time since 2018, according to the Tile Council of North America (TCNA). At Coverings 2022, TCNA Executive Director Eric Astrachan reported that total U.S. ceramic tile consumption in 2021 was 3.11 billion sq. ft., up 9.9% from the previous year. Read More

With the U.S. residential sector slowed by rising mortgage rates and inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages, the U.S. ceramic tile market experienced a slight downturn last year, according to the Tile Council of North America. The U.S. Census Bureau reported new home starts declined for the first time since the beginning of the Great Recession. The 1.56 million units started in 2022 were a 2.9% decrease from the preceding year. Hindered by rising mortgage rates and record-high average sales prices, new single-family home sales fell for the second year in a row. The 644,000 units sold in 2022 represented a 16.4% decline from the previous year. Read More

Construction is one of the most fragmented industries in our economy. Although there are almost eight million construction workers nationally, the average size of a construction firm with payrolls is less than a dozen employees, and that figure doesn’t factor in that more than 20 percent of construction workers are self-employed. This fragmentation can be beneficial for the flooring industry because the scale of the customer base means that few have enough purchasing power to negotiate meaningful concessions. The flip side, however, is that it creates a sales and marketing challenge to reach all these potential customers. Read More

The Tile Council of North America (TCNA) has released its Life Cycle Cost Analysis industry report. Read More

With the U.S. residential sector slowed by rising mortgage rates and inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages, the U.S. ceramic tile market experienced a slight downturn last year. Read More

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes in April rose one point to 45, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Read More

In the first two months of 2023, total U.S. imports of ceramic tile were 30.9 million square meters, according to Grosser Consulting, up 4.7% from the same period in 2022 when imports were 29.5 million square meters. Read More

U.S. floor coverings manufacturer sales began to feel the full impact of the current housing downturn in the first quarter of 2023. Catalina estimates first quarter dollar sales (shipments minus exports plus imports) could have declined by 2.5 percent, while square foot sales could have decreased by 4.7 percent. Read More

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the first quarter, posting a reading of 70, edging up one point compared to the previous quarter. Read More

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1% in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.4% in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Read More