World sanitaryware exports and imports (2017)

Luca Baraldi, Acimac Research Dept. [email protected]

Acimac Research Dept. updates the yearly analysis of the world ceramic sanitaryware imports/exports flows. Following a two-year period of total stability, sanitaryware exports resumed their upward trend in 2017 reaching 3.1 million tonnes, with a 5.4% growth compared to 2016.

World ceramic sanitaryware import/export flows increased by 65% from 1.86 to 3.1 million tonnes over the period 2007-2017, corresponding to an annual compound growth rate of 5.2%. Following a two-year period of total stability, sanitaryware exports resumed their upward trend in 2017 with 5.4% growth compared to 2016. However, an analysis of exports by geographical area of production reveals a fairly heterogeneous situation.

Asia further consolidated its position as the largest world sanitaryware exporter with an increase in its share of world exports from 55% to 58% following a strong recovery in 2017 (1.78 million tonnes, +9.7%) after two years of contraction. This was largely due to the sharp growth in Chinese exports, although the other main Asian exporters (India, Thailand and Vietnam) also saw an increase in exports.

The European Union, the second largest world exporter, saw a 1% drop in exports in 2017 to 578,000 tonnes. Italian export growth proved insufficient to offset the contractions in Polish and German exports, while Portugal remained at the same levels as in 2016.

Exports from North America (NAFTA) remained stable at 2016 levels (367,000 tonnes, -0.4%) despite the 1.3% growth registered in Mexico, while South American exports dropped by 1% to 79,000 tonnes. By contrast, exports from non-EU European countries grew strongly (+8.1% to 203,000 tonnes), driven by a fresh surge in Turkish exports (+10.8%). Africa remained in negative territory (down 8.4% to 66,000 tonnes), with the third consecutive fall after 6 years of uninterrupted growth.

There were no significant changes to the rankings of the 10 top exporter countries in 2017 with respect to the previous year apart from the return of Italy in place of Bulgaria in tenth position following 7.6% growth.

The fact that eight out of ten countries saw an increase in sanitaryware exports compared to the previous year is a positive sign. As we said, the only exceptions were Poland and Germany which both saw 4.6% falls.

China continued to top the rankings following an astonishing 429% increase over the ten-year period 2007-2017 from 261,000 tonnes in 2007 to 1.38 million tonnes in 2017, corresponding to a CAGR of 18%. In 2017 it saw 11.3% growth over 2016, not just recovering the ground it had lost the previous year but setting a new all-time record. China alone accounted for 77.4% of Asian and 47.8% of world exports.

Mexico, the second largest exporter country with an 11.3% share of global exports, reached 326,000 tonnes (up 1.3% on 2016), maintaining the upward trend that has continued uninterruptedly since 2012.

Turkey climbed to third place with a 4.9% share of global exports and 10.8% growth with respect to 2016 (141,000 tonnes), overtaking India which now ranks fourth with a total of 138,000 tonnes, up 1.4% on 2016.

Read the complete article published on Ceramic World Review 129/2018