Vietnam, an ASEAN country, has a long coastline and superior geographical location, with a population of more than 90 million. However, its annual GDP is only 1.5 times that of Foshan City. As one of the pillar industries in Vietnam, the development of ceramic industry is deeply concerned. After years of development and upgrading, Vietnam's ceramic industry has formed its own characteristics.
Restricted by the local ceramic production resources and technology, 80% of Vietnam's ceramic products are glazed tiles, 20% are porcelain tiles and polished tiles. At the same time, Vietnam's ceramic products are mainly exported, and their prices have a great competitive advantage. In addition, within the scope of ten ASEAN countries, Vietnam's ceramic products export zero tariff.
In addition, due to the upgrading of products and capacity expansion in Vietnam, as well as the convenience of local advantages, China's ceramic upstream equipment and chemical enterprises aim at Vietnam. In particular, 80% of Vietnam's ceramic products are glazed tiles, and there is a large demand for raw materials for tile surface decoration, including frits, colored glazes and inks. However, these products are rarely supplied by local enterprises in Vietnam. In the context of 60% dependence on imports, who can Chinese ceramic and chemical enterprises occupy the highland in Vietnam?
Vietnam's ceramic production capacity increases year by year
In recent years, Vietnam's ceramic industry has developed rapidly. Up to now, there are about 100 ceramic manufacturers in Vietnam, including glazed tiles, porcelain tiles, polished tiles and sanitary ware manufacturers. Vietnam is an ASEAN country with a long coastline. Of the 100 ceramic enterprises, 60% are located in the north, 20% in the south, and 20% in the central and border areas.
Interviewees told reporters that about 20 ceramic enterprises in southern Vietnam have relatively standardized management and high production level, with Touton as a typical example. It is reported that a considerable part of the ceramic enterprises in Touton were invested and constructed by Taiwanese in the early stage, which is similar to the ceramic enterprises in East China, with high-grade enterprises and products. However, 60% of the ceramic enterprises in the northern region are mostly local enterprises in Vietnam, and the level of ceramic tile products is relatively low.
In recent years, Vietnam has built a small number of production lines with a daily output of about 20000 square meters, some of which are in normal production. About 5-8 years ago, Vietnamese ceramic enterprises mainly imported ceramic production lines from Italy and Spain. At that time, the daily output of each production line was about 3000-4000 square meters. Moreover, at that time, the ceramic tile products were mainly glazed wall and floor tiles, especially ceramic tiles and 200 × 200 mm, 300 × 300 mm and other small-sized floor tiles, accounting for 80-90% of the total production capacity of ceramics in Vietnam, and only 10-20% of them were porcelain tiles and polished tiles.
After 2010, Vietnam's local economy continued to develop, and ceramic enterprises also ushered in a period of development. So far, Vietnamese ceramic enterprises have built a number of new production lines.
"The daily output of the new production line has been increased to 12000-15000 square meters, several times more than the original, and the proportion of porcelain tiles and polished tiles has increased, accounting for 20% of the total production capacity." Wang Hongze, director of Vietnam Ceramics Association's China office, said. He further mentioned that the specifications of local ceramic tile products also increased from the early 400 × 400mm and 500 × 500mm to 600 × 600mm and 800 × 800mm.
In recent years, thanks to the stability of Vietnam's external political situation and the increasing demand for internal ceramic tiles, Vietnam's ceramic production has also increased. According to relevant data, in 2015, the output reached 440 million square meters, occupying a leading position in Southeast Asia.
Up to now, Vietnamese ceramic enterprises are also building production lines with a daily production capacity of 20000 square meters. Of course, a small part of the production line with a daily production capacity of 20000 square meters has been completed and is in normal operation. At present, ink-jet printing equipment is not a new thing, 600 × 600mm and 800 × 800mm have also become conventional products.
80% glazed tiles, 20% porcelain tiles
"Vietnam's ceramic products have experienced four upgrades, first from red tiles with high water absorption to 200 × 200 mm and 300 × 300 mm small size glazed tiles. At that time, spot ceramic tiles were also produced. Around 2000, Vietnam's local ceramic enterprises began to produce polished tiles, and then applied the secondary cloth production process to upgrade their products. Until 2014, Vietnamese ceramic enterprises began to produce glazed tiles. " Foshan City osbo Ceramic Technology Co., Ltd. General Manager Huang Guoqiang told reporters. He further mentioned that the main reason is that the market demand drives the continuous upgrading of Vietnam's ceramic products.
Up to now, glazed tiles account for 80-90% of Vietnam's total ceramic production capacity, while porcelain tiles and polished tiles only account for 10-20%.
"Vietnam's ceramic product structure is subject to local production resources." Qiu Ziliang, general manager of Foshan Zitao Ceramic Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that Vietnam ceramics has few raw materials for producing polished tiles, and the most important thing is that there is no high-quality kaolin and feldspar. As we all know, polished tile is white, and Vietnam's raw materials are suitable for the production of red tile products, while red tile is more suitable for the secondary firing of porcelain chips.
Huang added that most of Vietnam's ceramic companies produce glazed tiles because of the local climate. The local temperature is high, and the glazed tile has fast heat dissipation, which is very in line with the consumption demands of local consumers. "They are usually barefoot on glazed tiles and feel very comfortable.".
Glazed tiles account for 80% of Vietnam's total ceramic production capacity, most of which are wood grain, marble and other textures.
Ceramic tiles are mainly exported, radiating to ten countries of ASEAN
In recent years, despite the further improvement of ceramic production capacity in Vietnam, most of them are not increased to meet the domestic ceramic tile consumption demand in Vietnam, and most of them are mainly exported. Vietnam is an ASEAN country with a long coastline and superior geographical location.
According to reports, Vietnam's ceramic tile products mainly radiate the surrounding Southeast Asian market, especially the ten ASEAN countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam). The price of Vietnam's ceramic products is more competitive than that of China. In addition, within the scope of ten ASEAN countries, the export of Vietnam's ceramic products is zero tariff.
In addition, apart from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, other ASEAN countries mainly rely on ceramic tile imports. This has created a favorable export environment for Vietnam's ceramic exports.
More importantly, Vietnam's industrial development foundation is weak. In international trade, Vietnam can enjoy trade preferential policies of other countries.
However, the quality of Vietnam's ceramic products is hard to catch up with that of China. The reason is that local feldspar, kaolin, clay and other raw materials in Vietnam are excavated from raw ore for preliminary processing. What's more, most of them are jiwo mine, which means that the quality of the mine is not good, and the quantity is also small, only 3-5 days can be dug, and generally the high-quality mine can be dug for 3-5 years. Therefore, the raw materials of several mines are mixed to produce in Vietnam ceramics factory, resulting in very unstable product quality.
According to reports, the excellent rate of ceramic tile production in Vietnam's local ceramic enterprises is around 80%, while the excellent rate of a few high-quality ceramic enterprises is generally over 90%, or even 95%, including Vietnam's famous viglacera group. In China's ceramic industry, enterprises with a production excellence rate of only 80% are easy to fall into a state of loss management, generally more than 90%.
In addition to being restricted by raw materials, the production level and process of local ceramic enterprises also affect the product's superior rate. In addition, it is worth mentioning that under the domestic situation of export-oriented, Vietnam's imports of ceramic tiles are naturally small. In 2016, the volume and price of ceramic tiles imported from China in Vietnam fell significantly. In 2016, the export amount of China's unglazed tile to Vietnam was US $41188230, accounting for 2.33%, down 91.18% year on year. However, the export amount of China's glazed tiles to Vietnam was 215160930 US dollars, accounting for 5.72%, down 62.7%.
Chinese ceramic equipment enterprises assist Vietnam's local ceramic enterprises in technological transformation of the equipment. Vietnam becomes the main battlefield of China's ceramic upstream enterprises
Since 2015, China's ceramic industry has suffered from serious overcapacity, serious homogenization of products, saturated market consumption, and weak willingness of ceramic enterprises to go to the new line. Therefore, China's ceramic machinery and equipment enterprises have focused on the overseas market. With the advantage of land, Chinese ceramic machinery enterprises take the lead in entering the Vietnamese market.
Vietnam can be said to be one of the main battlefields for the export of China's ceramic equipment and chemical materials. Some Chinese ceramic upstream enterprises have local offices, and some arrange frequent business trips for salesmen.
However, due to the weak development of the world economy and the rapid increase of domestic ceramic production in Vietnam, the sales of domestic ceramic tiles in Vietnam started from the second half of 2015, with the phenomenon of unsalable sales and large increase of inventory. Therefore, in recent years, the momentum of new production lines is less than expected.
In recent two years, there are about 20 new production lines in Vietnam every year, among which only five kilns with a length of more than 200-250 meters are built in three years. Nevertheless, all production lines currently in operation are dependent on imports. In recent years, it is basically imported from China. Vietnam's ceramic production technology is relatively backward, especially in terms of automation control, energy conservation and environmental protection technology. The technology of Chinese ceramic production and the price of upstream ceramic machinery and equipment are very suitable for Vietnamese enterprises.
At the same time, the chemical materials used in the production of Vietnam ceramic factory, such as frit, color glaze, glue dissolving agent, are mostly imported from China and a small amount from Spain and other countries. "Of all the chemical materials of Vietnamese ceramic enterprises, 60% are imported from China, and about 40% are produced locally." Qiu Ziliang introduced that in Shunhua, Vietnam, there will be a melting block factory to be built. This is mainly due to the rich quartz sand resources needed for the local production of frits.
Interviewees agreed that cost performance is the most important consideration when doing business with Vietnamese ceramic enterprises. However, many Chinese imported chemical materials will not be satisfied with the local market, which needs to be adjusted according to the local production environment, especially the chemical materials products such as frits and release agents.
Therefore, local ceramic enterprises will also invite some Chinese experts and senior ceramic people as consultants. However, in addition to the raw materials imported from China and local production, there are also some imported materials from Spain, Italy and other countries. "Take ink as an example. Even though Chinese ink exports to Vietnam have the advantages of geography and cost performance, it still needs an acceptance process." A sales person said. He analyzed that the reason is that the local ceramic enterprises in Vietnam mainly choose the European brand inkjet, and their inkjet suppliers will prevent the ceramic enterprises from using the ink imported from China.
At present, the monthly demand for ink in Vietnam ceramic factory is about 200 tons, but there is no ink production enterprise in Vietnam. At present, it mainly imports European brand ink, of which the market share of ferro ink is the majority.
Continuously improve R & D capability and catch up with international level
In the next few years, Vietnam ceramic enterprises will gradually eliminate the old production lines and improve the design of products. At the same time, ceramic enterprises will strengthen enterprise management and gradually change to fine management to increase their own competitiveness. Specifically, the production process standardized management. Set up quality inspection department to control the quality of products.
It is worth mentioning that in Vietnam, Ceramic Institute, R & D institute and inspection and Quarantine Center have been established successively In order to enhance the ability of product research and development. Moreover, the local ceramic enterprises pay close attention to the international ceramic tile trend, and take this as the catch-up target to continuously improve the level of product research and development.