Canadian imports of ceramic tiles decrease

Canadian imports and consumption of ceramic tiles decreased to 41 million sq.m in 2018.

Coming on the heels of a robust 14.9% increase in sq. ft. (or per sq.m) consumption from 2016 to 2017, the Canadian ceramic tile market declined in 2018 vs. the previous year. Based on currently available data (November 2018 YTD), we estimate 2018 Canadian ceramic tile consumption was 444.4 million sq. ft. (41.3 million sq.m), down 4.1% from 2017 (source: Statistics Canada). Even so 2018 was a relatively strong year, as Canada experienced the third highest level of ceramic tile consumption this decade.

As there is no significant ceramic tile production in Canada, imports approximately equal consumption.

The five countries from which the most tiles were imported into Canada through Nov. 2018 were China (14.4 million sq.m, -4.1%; -6% in value), Italy (8.6 million sq.m, -14.4%; +2,4% in value), Turkey (5.8 million sq.m, -24% both in volume and value), Spain (3.8 million sq.m, +29.7%; +16.6% in value) and the United States (3 million sq.m, +82.8%; -8.9% in value).