World sanitaryware imports and exports (2022)
World ceramic sanitaryware import/export flows grew by 71.3% from 2.16 million to 3.7 million tonnes over the period 2010-2022, corresponding to a compound annual growth rate of 4.6%. However, the positive trend that continued for almost the entire period (with the exception of 2020, due to the pandemic) was interrupted again in 2022 with a 5.6% decline in exports compared to 2021. This negative trend was observed in practically all geographical areas of production and in the major exporting countries.
Asia remained the largest world sanitaryware exporter, increasing its share of world exports to 66% despite a 3.5% fall to 2.44 million tonnes in 2022. This was a combined result of contractions in almost all the major Asian exporting countries, namely China, India, Thailand and Vietnam, with the only positive exception being Iran.
European Union, the world’s second largest exporter, also fell by 3.7% to 520,000 tonnes. The three largest exporting countries alone accounted for half of EU exports, but followed different trajectories, with Poland and Portugal maintaining their 2021 levels, while Germany’s exports declined by 4.6%. Exports from North America (NAFTA) suffered a more severe, double-digit decline, down to 328,000 tonnes (down 13.5% on 2021), largely attributable to the -10% drop in Mexico. Exports from non-EU European countries recorded a similar contraction (-13.1% to 253,000 tonnes), with Turkey down 8.3% (187,000 tonnes). Next, again with a downward trend, came South America (84,000 tonnes, -15.4%) and Africa (73,000 tonnes, -7%).
Read the complete article published in Ceramic World Review 154/2023
Photo courtesy of Villeroy & Boch
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