Thin tile pushes into the fast lane market

At present, China produces up to 400 million tons of construction waste each year, which is the largest in the world. Among them, the incomplete use of thick bricks not only causes huge construction waste, but also wastes resources and energy and becomes a barrier to the sustainable development of the ceramic industry. Industry associations and some companies continue to advocate the use of thin bricks for production, but the current slimming of tiles is still a long way. In order to widely implement thin bricks, technically, the performance and price of thin bricks should be equal to or even better than those of thick bricks. To promote them, we must guide them correctly and change the concept of consumers’ love of thick bricks.

Tiles can be reduced by 60% to save 100 million tons of raw materials. It is understood that most of the tiles in the market today are in an “overweight” state. The thickness of conventional tiles 300*300 is 6~7mm, while that of 600*600 is about 9mm. And 800 * 800 to reach 12mm, in the eyes of many dealers and consumers, the thickness of the ceramic tile is considered solid, and in fact the thickness of the tile does not affect its use. Many industry sources pointed out that thick bricks are actually a waste. Generally speaking, the current life span of domestic buildings is generally less than 30 years. Generally, polished bricks only consume less than 1 mm of their thickness in their life span, and the remaining part becomes the end of the construction life. Construction waste.

In addition, thick bricks not only consume more raw materials but also consume more energy during the firing process. It is understood that one of the main raw materials of ceramics is the dilemma of improper exploitation of digging, digging, and doubling prices. Ceramic raw materials and energy costs continue to increase, the industry is increasingly pressing for energy-saving and emission reduction, ceramic tile thinning becomes an inevitable trend. Taking a ceramic tile with a thickness of 11.3 mm as an example, ceramic tiles thinned to 5.5 mm can save 5.6779 kg of standard coal per square meter.

If the thickness of traditional tiles can be reduced by 60%, according to the current annual output of 6 billion square meters of wall and floor tiles in the market, each year, only tile production can save about 720-12,000 tons of raw materials, and the annual comprehensive energy consumption can reduce the standard of about 30.6 billion kilograms. Coal, equivalent to a total of three annual Three Gorges project power generation, economic and social benefits are very impressive. Saving 60%, 50%, and 30% of mineral resources, reducing CO2 emissions, and saving water resources have significant benefits.

Tiles do not like the market acceptance is the key to accept the market is the key to thinning, the use of raw materials, pollutant emissions, freight, storage space and costs can be greatly reduced, but in recent years, the tile low-carbon road has encountered various difficulties, Which market is the deciding factor.

In the concept of traditional consumers, ceramic tiles are like many products. They need to be heavy and strong to be durable. “In the past, the density of ceramic tiles was so poor that they would break at a glance.” Thus, thick tiles became more popular, and ceramic tiles became thinner. He was accused of "stealing work and reducing materials." Huang Jianping, chairman of Aesthetic Ceramics, said in an interview that he had tried to reduce the thickness of the ceramic tile by 1mm, but he encountered a lot of returns from dealers. In fact, a one or two millimeter thinning of tiles does not affect its use. In terms of concept, many consumers are worried about thin bricks, and fear that the thinning of tiles will affect the firmness and wear resistance of the products. The market does not accept that it is difficult to advance the thinning of tiles.

In addition to the influence of ideas, price factors cannot be ignored. When a new product is first introduced into the market, due to technological innovations, equipment updates, and product promotion cost factors, the product price is usually relatively high, and the consumer does not see the benefits in the short term, and new products are difficult to accept. It is not willing to risk the task of "breaking ice." It is understood that the current price of ordinary polished tiles in the market ranged from tens to one or two hundred yuan, while the general price of thin bricks was three to four hundred per square, and the price did not have the competitive advantage of thick bricks. In addition, many special processes cannot be completed after the tiles are thinned, which will lead to a single tile color, which also affects its promotion effect to some extent.

From the consumer's point of view, whether the ceramic tile is low-carbon or not and whether the production process is energy-saving has little relevance to the use of the product. "The people want to buy genuine things for money, and it doesn't matter if your production is energy-efficient. No one is willing to pay a high price for a product that doesn't bring more benefits to yourself." Enterprises must produce thin bricks from Technically solving the practicality and cost-effectiveness of thin bricks, it is necessary for consumers to think that it is because thin bricks are good to buy, not just because thin bricks are used for low-carbon purchases.

It takes 2-3 years for thin bricks to push into the “fast lane” market to cultivate. Jianbin, Secretary-General of the China Building Sanitary Ceramics Association reiterated on many occasions that the Association has submitted proposals to the National Standards Committee and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for the revision of ceramic product standards, and formally established the project. If this proposal is passed, it will imply that the industry will enforce the “thinning down” plan for tiles, which will be completed within 3 years. It is expected that within 3 to 5 years, the “thinning” products of ceramic tiles will be in the country. Spread out, the ceramics industry's upgrading and transformation will formally put on the fast track. However, compared with the promotion of the association and the government, the acceptance of thin bricks by consumers is “not up to speed”. It takes at least two to three years for the market to grow.

Technically speaking, ceramic tiles can indeed be thinned, which is also in line with the low-carbon and environmental protection concept advocated by the state. However, if a large number of tiles are to be thinned, the power of a certain enterprise alone is far from enough, and it needs the joint promotion of the entire industry. At the same time, it must not force all companies to thin their products, because it is technically difficult to reduce the thickness of the tiles. If everyone is required to thin, the products of many companies may not be able to cross the border, and the final victims are consumers.

In the view of the industry, thin bricks are still relatively new products in the terminal market. Consumers are still at the stage of “cognition” of thin plates and are still conceptual products, and have not yet formed a good purchasing power. “Consumers need guidance. At present, thin plates are more easily accepted as wall bricks, but it takes time to use them as floor tiles.” Ceramics industry expects that it will take 3-5 years for thin bricks to compete with traditional thick bricks. Currently, it is still in the market cultivation period.

At present, in order to reverse the difficult situation of low-carbon tiles, first of all, the country needs strong support. The company thinned ceramic tile, its products are low-carbon and environmentally friendly, and it contributes to the country's energy-saving and emission-reduction. However, the company itself may be making a loss-making purchase, which requires the state to provide financial and policy support. Fortunately, the country has already started its operations. According to reports, relevant departments have previously issued a ceramic thinning-related standard "ceramic plate," and have given demonstration enterprises an economic subsidy. As a result, companies are motivated by the fact that the prices of thin-slab ceramic tiles have been gradually reduced, and consumers will gradually accept that “industry associations are also actively promoting tile thinning and is the general trend.”