Ceramic Tiles Market Players resort to New Product Development, as Key Growth Strategy

Published On: January 2018

Ceramic Tiles: Market Introduction

Ceramic tiles market have emerged as one of the most commonly used and cost effective options among builders, and consumers. Ceramic tiles are made out of materials such as clay, sand and glass. These materials are often combined with recycled materials to form ceramic tile. These tiles offer insulating properties and help minimize energy usage by keeping the property, cooler in summers. Other properties such as low maintenance, ease of repair, variety of designs, and moisture resistance, have proved to be the key selling points of these tiles.

With growing popularity of decorative and personalized tiles, the glazed and unglazed ceramic tiles along with porcelain tiles have gained momentum over many years. Today commercial and residential spaces across the globe demand designed tiles to suit personal tastes and preferences. This augments the demand for such tiles. Lately, Asia Pacific has emerged as the leading market for global tiles industry. According to Tile Edizioni, global tile consumption rose by 0.8% than the previous year. Demand in Asia has been 0.6% more than that of 2014, which is equivalent to 67.1% of global consumption.

Furthermore, the rise in FDI inflows has been prominent in developed economies, which received USD 962 billion in 2015, i.e. 84% more than in 2014. However, Asia Pacific region continued to receive a significant amount of FDI inflows, totaling USD 559 billion in 2015, an increase of 5.6% over 2014 level. This has pushed the demand for ceramic tiles in the region.

New Product Development in Ceramic Tiles Market: Key strategy

The ceramic tiles industry has seen increased investment in R&D and new product development. This is in line with expanding construction sector and increasing foreign & private investment in the infrastructure and residential construction. The growing interest, among investors in the construction sector of Asia Pacific countries such as Indonesia, India, and Myanmar, have led to relaxation of FDI in the sector, and various form of government support. The governments across regions are seen promoting and developing their construction sector. The emerging nations are particularly bringing various reforms and regulations to boost their infrastructure growth and real-estate market. For instance, the government of India announced several major policy initiatives to boost the construction industry in the country. Some of them were the passage of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016, the amendment to the Benami Transactions Act, 100% deduction in profits for affordable housing construction. The change in arbitration norms for construction companies is also one of them.

Companies such as Roca Sanitario, S.A., RAK Ceramics, and Group Lamosa are seen taking advantage of the construction scenario and have been investing into new product developments. This would help the companies to cater to the growing tiles requirement in the expanding construction space. In 2016, Roca Sanitario, S.A. presented its latest tile products at the KBC trade show in Shanghai. RAK Ceramics launched Nuance, Raresh, Muslin, Paris, Textile concrete, Shine stone, Precious brick, Loft brick, Line wood, Hard wood, Golden marble, Fusion stone, Dream marble, Country brick, Circle wood, and Atlantis marble. Groupo Lamosa launched new high-end, European equivalent products but are manufactured locally. This enhanced the availability, and reduced lead times and lower prices.

Tapping the New Opportunities:

The market of ceramic tiles in the U.S. has suffered lately due to increased imports of ceramic tiles. The local manufacturing industry suffered in the hands of inexpensive tiles from foreign countries. However, import share of the ceramic tiles market, is expected to fall as foreign producers are expected to expand their manufacturing capacity in the U.S. so as to fulfil domestic orders more quickly and to create products, specifically tailored to the tastes of U.S. consumers. The tiles market in the U.S. for various residential and non-residential applications have been dependent on imported tiles. The reason is attributed to the availability of low priced tiles from countries such as Mexico, and India. This, however is not suited to fulfil specific demands of the application industries, as the tastes, preferences, and aesthetic values of consumers have constantly been changing. Due to this, the country is expected to see the inflow of investments in the ceramic tile industry to reduce the imports and establish strong base through expanding manufacturing capabilities.

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