Subject to the local ceramic production resources and production technology, 80% of Vietnam's ceramic products are glazed tiles, 20% are ceramic tiles and polished tiles. At the same time, Vietnam's ceramic products are mainly exported, and its product price has a great competitive advantage. In addition, in the ten ASEAN countries, Vietnam's ceramic products export zero tariff.
In addition, due to Vietnam's product upgrading and capacity expansion, and convenient location, China's ceramic upstream equipment and chemical enterprises are targeting Vietnam for export. In particular, 80% of Vietnam's ceramic products are glazed tiles, and there is a large demand for ceramic tile surface decoration materials, including frit, glaze and ink. However, these products are rarely supplied by local enterprises in Vietnam. Under the background of 60% dependence on import, who can occupy the highland in Vietnam?
Vietnam ceramic production capacity increases year by year
In recent years, Vietnam's ceramic industry has developed rapidly. Up to now, Vietnam has about 100 ceramic production enterprises, including glazed tiles, ceramic tiles, polished tiles and sanitary ware manufacturers. Vietnam belongs to ASEAN countries with a long coastline. Among the 100 ceramic enterprises, 60% of them are in the north, 20% in the South and 20% in the central and border areas.
Interviewees told reporters that the management of about 20 ceramic enterprises in southern Vietnam is relatively standardized and the production level is high, among which Toudun is a typical one. It is reported that a considerable number of ceramic enterprises in Toudun were invested and built by Taiwan businessmen in the early stage, which is somewhat similar to the ceramic enterprises in East China, and the enterprises and products are of high grade. However, 60% of ceramic enterprises in the north are mostly local enterprises in Vietnam, and the quality 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, Vietnam's 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 main ceramic tile products were glazed tiles, especially tiles with small specifications such as 200 × 200 mm and 300 × 300 mm, accounting for 80-90% of the total production capacity of Vietnam's ceramics, and only 10-20% of them were ceramic tiles and polished tiles.
After 2010, with the continuous development of local economy in Vietnam, ceramic enterprises also ushered in a period of development. So far, Vietnam 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 / piece, which is several times higher than the original production line. Moreover, the proportion of porcelain tiles and polished tiles has increased, accounting for 20% of the total production capacity." Wang Hongze, director of the Vietnam Ceramic Association's office in China, said. He further mentioned that the specifications of local ceramic tile products also increased from 400 × 400mm and 500 × 500mm to 600 × 600mm and 800 × 800mm.
In recent years, Vietnam's ceramic production has increased due to the external political stability and the increasing demand for internal ceramic tiles. According to relevant data, in 2015, the output reached 440 million square meters, occupying a position in Southeast Asia.
Up to today, Vietnamese ceramic enterprises are also building production lines with a daily capacity of 20000 square meters. Of course, a small number of production lines with a daily capacity of 20000 square meters have been built and are in normal operation. At present, ink jet printing equipment is not a novelty, 600 × 600mm and 800 × 800mm have become conventional products.
80% glazed tiles, 20% porcelain tiles
"Vietnam's ceramic products have experienced four times of upgrading, first from red brick with high water absorption rate to 200 × 200 mm, 300 × 300 mm small size glazed tiles. At that time, spot ceramic tiles were also produced. Around 2000, local Vietnamese ceramic enterprises began to produce polished tiles, and then applied secondary cloth production process to upgrade their products. Until 2014, Vietnamese ceramic enterprises began to produce polished tiles. ”Foshan osbo Ceramic Technology Co., Ltd. General Manager Huang Guoqiang told reporters. He further mentioned that it was mainly driven by market consumption demand that Vietnam's ceramic products kept upgrading.
Up to now, glazed tiles account for 80-90% of Vietnam's total ceramic production capacity, while ceramic tiles and polished tiles only account for 10-20%.
"The structure of Vietnam's ceramic products is subject to local production resources." Qiu Ziliang, general manager of Foshan Zitao Ceramic Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that Vietnam ceramics can produce polished tiles with very few raw materials. The key is that there is no high-quality kaolin and feldspar. As we all know, polished brick is white, and Vietnam's raw materials are suitable for the production of red products, while red tiles are more suitable for secondary firing.
Huang added that the majority of Vietnam's ceramic enterprises produce glazed tiles, which are closely related to the local climate. The local temperature is high, and the glazed tiles heat quickly, which is very in line with the consumption demands of local consumers. "They usually walk barefoot on glazed tile, feel very comfortable.".
Glazed tiles account for 80% of the total production capacity of Vietnam's ceramics, most of which are wood grain, marble and other textures.
Ceramic tiles are mainly exported and radiate to the ten countries of ASEAN
In recent years, although Vietnam's ceramic production capacity has been further improved, the vast majority of them are not increased to meet the demand of domestic ceramic tile consumption in Vietnam, and most of them are mainly exported. Vietnam belongs to ASEAN countries with a long coastline and advantageous geographical location.
According to reports, Vietnam's ceramic tile products mainly radiate the surrounding Southeast Asian markets, especially the ten ASEAN countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam). Vietnam's ceramic products have more competitive advantages than China's, and Vietnam's export of ceramic products is zero tariff within the ten ASEAN countries.
Moreover, in addition to 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 export.
More importantly, Vietnam's industrial development foundation is weak. In international trade, Vietnam can enjoy the preferential policies of other countries.
However, the quality of Vietnamese ceramic products is difficult to catch up with that of China.
The reason is that the local feldspar, kaolin, clay and other raw materials in Vietnam are excavated from the original 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 small. It can only be dug for 3-5 days. Generally, the high-quality ore can be dug for 3-5 years. Therefore, the raw materials of several mines are mixed together in Vietnam ceramic factory, resulting in the product quality being very unstable.
According to reports, the excellent rate of ceramic tile production in Vietnam's local ceramic enterprises is hovering around 80%, while the excellent rate of a few high-quality ceramic enterprises is generally above 90%, even up to 95%, including Vietnam's famous vigracera group. In China's ceramic industry, enterprises with a production excellence rate of only 80% are easy to fall into a loss management situation, generally more than 90%.
In addition to being restricted by raw materials, the production level and technology of local ceramic enterprises also affect the excellent rate of products.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that in the domestic situation dominated by exports, Vietnam's imports of ceramic tiles are naturally small. In 2016, the volume and price of Vietnam's imported ceramic tiles from China declined significantly. In 2016, the export amount of China's glazed tiles to Vietnam was US $41188230, accounting for 2.33%, a year-on-year decrease of 91.18%; while the export amount of China's glazed tiles to Vietnam was US $215160930, accounting for 5.72%, a decrease of 62.7%.
Chinese ceramic equipment enterprises assist Vietnam's local ceramic enterprises in technological transformation of their equipment.
Vietnam has become the main battlefield of China's ceramic upstream enterprises
Since 2015, China's ceramic production capacity has been seriously overcapacity, product homogenization is serious, market consumption tends to be saturated, and ceramic enterprises have no strong desire to go to the new line. Therefore, China's ceramic machinery equipment enterprises are aiming at the overseas market. China's ceramic machinery equipment enterprises took the lead in entering the Vietnam market.
Vietnam can be said to be one of the main battlefields of China's ceramic machinery equipment and chemical materials export. Some Chinese ceramic upstream enterprises have local offices, and some arrange business personnel to travel frequently.
However, affected by the weak development of the world economy and the sharp increase in the production of domestic ceramic products in Vietnam, the sales of domestic ceramic tiles in Vietnam have been unsalable and the inventory has increased greatly since the second half of 2015. Therefore, in recent years, the momentum of the new production line is less than expected.
In the past two years, Vietnam has built about 20 new production lines each year, of which only five kilns with a length of 200-250 meters are built in three years.
Nevertheless, all production lines currently in operation rely 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 saving and environmental protection technology. China's ceramic production technology and the price of upstream ceramic machinery equipment are very suitable for Vietnamese enterprises.
At the same time, most of the chemical materials used in the production of Vietnam ceramic factory, such as frit, glaze and glue remover, are imported from China, and a small amount are imported from Spain and other countries. "60% of all chemical materials of Vietnamese ceramic enterprises are imported from China, and about 40% of them are produced locally." Qiu Ziliang said that in the local area of Shunhua, Vietnam, a frit factory will soon be built. This is mainly due to the abundant quartz sand resources needed for local production of frit.
Interviewees agreed that cost performance is an important consideration in doing business with Vietnam ceramic enterprises. However, many chemical materials imported from China will be acclimatized in the local market, which needs to be adjusted according to the local production environment, especially the chemical products such as frit and gel remover.
Therefore, the local ceramic enterprises will also invite some Chinese experts and senior ceramic experts to do the consultant.
However, the raw materials for Vietnam's local ceramic production are imported from China and local production, and some are imported from Spain, Italy and other countries. "Take ink as an example, even though Chinese ink exports to Vietnam have geographical and cost-effective advantages, it still needs a process of acceptance." A salesman said. He analyzed that the reason is that local ceramic enterprises in Vietnam mainly use European brand inkjet machines, and their inkjet machine suppliers will prevent ceramic enterprises from using Chinese imported ink.
At present, the monthly demand of ink in Vietnam ceramic factory is about 200 tons. However, there is no ink production enterprise in Vietnam. Currently, the main imported ink is European brand ink, and 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's ceramic enterprises will gradually eliminate the old production lines and improve the design and color of products. At the same time, ceramic enterprises will strengthen enterprise management, and gradually change to fine management to increase their own competitiveness. The specific performance is as follows: standardized management of production process; establishment of quality inspection department to control the quality of products.
It is worth mentioning that Vietnam has successively set up Ceramic Institute, R & D institute and inspection and quarantine center 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 goal, and constantly improve the level of product research and development.
"This trend tells China's ceramic machinery equipment manufacturers and chemical material suppliers to bring better cost-effective products and more meticulous and thoughtful services, especially technical guidance and services, to develop Vietnam's ceramic market." Wang Hongze believes that because the competition in Vietnam market will be more and more fierce.
