2022 U.S. Ceramic Tile Market Update

Total U.S. ceramic tile consumption in 2022 was 285.4 million sq.m, down 1.3% from the previous year. Imports by volume decreased, too, down 2.3% to 202.7 million sq.m, while national production grew by 2.3% reaching 87.3 million sq.m.

With the U.S. residential sector slowed by rising mortgage rates and inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages, the U.S. ceramic tile market experienced a slight downturn last year.

Based on figures from U.S. Dept. of Commerce and TCNA, total U.S. ceramic tile consumption in 2022 was 285.4 million m2 (3.07 billion sq. ft.), down 1.3% from the previous year.

The volume of domestically produced tile continued to grow in 2022, reaching 87.3 million sq.m, up 2.3% on 2021. U.S. manufacturers shipped 82.6 million m2 (889.2 million sq. ft.) of ceramic tile domestically in 2022, a 1% increase from the preceding year.

U.S. shipments’ share of total U.S. consumption was 28.9% by volume in 2022, up from 28.3% the prior year, and much higher than the shares of any individual country exporting to the U.S., with the next highest shares of total consumption belonging to Spain (14.1%), Italy (12.3%), and Mexico (11.8%).

In dollars, U.S. FOB factory sales of domestic shipments in 2022 were $1.48 billion, an 8.6% increase from 2021. U.S. shipments were 33.4% of total 2022 U.S. tile consumption by value, down from 35.2% in 2021. This decrease in domestic market share by value was due in large part to the rising freight costs for imports, which helped push 2022 U.S. imports’ value up 17.5% from the previous year.

The per unit value of domestic shipments was $17.86/m2 ($1.66/sq. ft.) last year, up from $16.61/m2 ($1.54/sq. ft.) in 2021.

U.S. ceramic tile exports in 2022 were 4.7 million m2 (50.8 million sq. ft.), a 33.6% increase from the previous year and the highest total on record. The countries receiving the lion’s share of these exports by volume were our North American neighbors, Canada (70.5%) and Mexico (19.0%). U.S. exports by value in 2022 were $52.6 million, up 30.1% from 2021.

Imports

After reaching a 15-year high in 2021, U.S. imports decreased by volume in 2022. According to figures by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, the 202.7 million m2 (2.18 billion sq. ft.) of tile imported last year represented a 2.3% decline from 2021.

While the main European (Spain, Italy, and Turkey) and South American (Brazil and Peru) countries supplying tile to the U.S. all experienced declines in their exports to the U.S. in 2022, the largest Asian exporters, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam, each had double-digit increases.

Spain remained the largest exporter of ceramic tile to the U.S. in 2022 despite its exports’ falling 12.8% by volume vs. the previous year to 40.2 million m2; Spanish share of total U.S. imports by volume decreased from 22.2% in 2021 to 19.8% last year.

Italy was the second largest exporter to the U.S. in 2022 by volume, although Italian ceramic tile exports declined 2.9% from 2021 to 35 million m2. Italian tile comprised 17.3% of the U.S. import market last year, down slightly from 17.4% in 2021.

Mexico was the third largest exporter to the U.S. in 2022 with 33.7 million m2 (up 1% vs 2021) and a 16.6% share of total U.S. imports.

With 26.4 million m2 exported to the U.S. (+30.4% vs 2021) and a 13% share of 2022 imports, India became the fourth largest exporter to the U.S., up from sixth position the previous year and its all-time highest position.

Turkey rounded out the list of top five exporters to the U.S. with volumes decreasing by 11% to 24.9 million m2 and a 12.3% share in 2022, down from 13.5% in 2021.

In 2022, the total value of ceramic tile imports increased by 17.5% to US$ 2.94 billion. On a dollar basis (CIF + duty), Italy was the largest exporter to the U.S., comprising 30.2% of U.S imports (US$ 888.6 million, +12.4%), followed by Spain with a 26.8% share (US$ 789 million, +24.5%) and Mexico with a 9.1% share (US$ 267 million, +9%).

Table 4 shows the average values of tile (CIF + duty) from the ten largest exporting countries (based on volume) in 2022. This value is significantly affected by the mix of tiles imported, with different types of tiles impacting the average value, in addition to differences in pricing for the same types of tile. Once again in 2022, Italian tiles confirm the highest average price of $25.36/sq.m, up 15.7% from $21.92/sq.m, in 2021. Spanish average value increased by 42.6% from $13.77/sq.m to $19.64/sq.m.

Read the article published in CWR 150/2023