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World production and consumption of ceramic tiles 2019

World production and consumption of ceramic tiles 2019

Excerpts from The eighth edition of the publication “World production and consumption of ceramic tiles” produced by MECS / Acimac Research Department is due to be released in October.
Consisting of 260 pages of charts, tables and commentary, it provides detailed analysis of the ten-year trends up to 2019 in terms of industry, markets, per capita consumption and export flows in geographical macro-regions and in the 76 largest tile producer, consumer, exporter and importer countries. Here we present a preview of the most significant figures.  Given the exceptional nature of 2020, a year in which practically all players in the global ceramic industry were impacted by the Covid-19 health crisis, at the end of this article we provide tentative year-end forecasts.
1) While 2018 saw the first decline in global tile production and consumption, the negative trend continued through 2019. By contrast, import-export flows remained in positive territory but grew by just 1%.
2) In 2019, world tile production fell to 12,673 million sqm, 3.7% down from the 13,157 million sqm of 2018. Just like the previous year, production in Asia contracted by a further 5%, dropping from 8,980 million sqm to 8,532 million sqm, equivalent to 67.3% of global production. This fall was largely due to a further sharp decline in the volumes produced in China. The European continent produced a total of 1,874 million sqm (14.8% of world production). Production fell both in the European Union (1,304 million sqm, -2.8%) and in non-EU Europe (570 million sqm, -7.8%). Production remained stable at 1,503 million sqm in the American continent, where the increase in Central and South America (+2.2%, 1,173 million sqm) offset the decline in North America (-4.9%, 330 million sqm). Growth continued in Africa, where production in 2019 was estimated at around 759 million sqm (+5.7%). Besides Egypt, which remained the leading producer in the continent with an output of 300 million sqm, and Nigeria which reached an output of 115 million sqm, growth in production continued in sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Ghana and Tanzania), largely driven by Chinese investments and with outputs of between 10 and 40 million sqm from 2015 onwards.
3) In 2019, world tile consumption fell from 12,902 to 12,375 million sqm (-4.1%), a decline of approximately 500 million sqm. The biggest contraction was in Asia, where demand fell to 7,995 million sqm (-6.3%), equivalent to 64.6% of global consumption. As for Europe, consumption grew in European Union countries (from 1,009 to 1,021 million sqm, +1.2%) but declined by 10% in non-EU Europe (from 563 to 506 million sqm). Consumption remained almost stable in the Americas with volumes of 1,257 million sqm (+0.7%) in Central and South America and 544 million sqm (-3.7%) in North America. Demand in Africa rose sharply to 1,002 million sqm (+7.2%), continuing to far outstrip the continent’s production capacity.
4) In 2019, world exports grew by just 31 million sqm compared to 2018 to reach 2,837 million sqm (+1.1%). This figure is a combined result of the contraction in Chinese exports (down by 75 million sqm) and the growth in almost all the other major exporting countries, particularly India (an increase of 86 million sqm). In terms of macro-regions, exports from Asia increased to 1,447 million sqm (+1.5%), equivalent to 51% of world exports. European Union exports remained stable at 920 million sqm (+0.3%), corresponding to one third of the world total, while exports from non-EU European countries also performed strongly (up 8% from 175 to 189 million sqm). In the Americas, the volumes exported from Central and South America remained unchanged at 148 million sqm, while North American exports fell slightly (from 49 to 45 million sqm; -8.2%). Finally, exports from Africa fell by 3 million sqm to 88 million sqm.
                                       TOP MANUFACTURING COUNTRIES
 COUNTRY         2015             2016            2017            2018           2019         % on 2019         % variation
                       (Sq.m Mill.)  (Sq.m Mill.)  (Sq.m Mill.)  (Sq.m Mill.) (Sq.m Mill.)  world production      19/18
1. CHINA            5,970           6,495          6,400           5,683            5,187                40.9%             -8.7%
2. INDIA                850              955          1,080           1,145            1,266                 10.0%             10.6%
3. BRAZIL             986              871            867               872               909                  7.2%               4.2%
4. VIETNAM         440              485            560               602               560                   4.4%              -7.0%
5. SPAIN               440              492            530               530               510                   4.0%              -3.8%
6. ITALY                395              416            422               416               401                    3.2%             -3.6%
7. IRAN                 300              340            373               383               398                    3.1%              3.9%
8. INDONESIA      370              360            307               383               347                    2.7%             -9.4%
9. EGYPT             230              250            300               300               300                    2.4%              0.0%
10. TURKEY        320              330            355                335               296                    2.3%            -11.6%
TOTAL             10,301         10,994       11,194           10,649          10,174                  80.3%            -4.5%
TOTAL WORLD 12,530      13,322      13,627            13,157         12,673                  100.0%            -3.7%
Source / Fonte: Mecs / Acimac Research dept. “World production and consumption of ceramic tiles”, 8th edition 2020
Donato Pompo

Donato Pompo, CTC CMR CSI CDT MBA, is the leading tile and stone forensic expert and consultant in North America, and he is a National Tile Contractors Association Recognized Consultant. Donato is the founder of CTaSC.