Since the news of rock slab explosion in the second half of 2021, the ceramic industry seems to have fewer and fewer voices about rock slabs. Compared with the crazy expansion of production capacity from 2019 to 2020, the development of rock slabs will be in 2022. The year suddenly came to a "sudden halt". Regarding slate, ceramic companies are now relatively rational and are gradually looking for a way out.
01
14 slate/large slab production lines will be put into operation in 2022< /span>
Relevant statistics show that in 2021, there will be more than 142 new production lines across the country (including public planning, start of construction, ignition, and commissioning), involving 16 provinces and cities, including 91 rock slab/thin plate/large plate production lines, accounting for 64% of the total new production lines were added, and 750×1500mm and 900×1800mm became the popular main specifications for new line production. The addition of production lines was mainly concentrated in the first half of the year, and the pace slowed down significantly starting in July, but ceramic companies are still keen to put into production slate lines.
Entering 2022, ceramic companies across the country are steadily advancing the commissioning of new lines and expanding production capacity. According to incomplete statistics from public information, as of now, a total of 48 new/technologically upgraded production lines have been put into production across the country in 2022, including 14 large slab/rock slab production lines. It is worth mentioning that among these 14 large slab/rock slab production lines, only 4 can produce large-sized slabs exceeding 2 meters, and 2 of them can produce 1200×2400mm slabs. Most of them are 750×1500mm large slab/small rock slab production line.
On June 6, Shanxi Huawei Ceramics Technology Co., Ltd.’s large-sized intelligent slate line was successfully ignited. It is reported that this is the first large-size slate line in Shanxi production area since 2022. It can produce slate products with thickness of 6-12mm, size of 800×2600mm, 900×2600mm and other specifications. The designed daily output of 800×2600mm products is 12,000㎡. .
On June 8, the first super-large slate line in the Fujian production area was successfully ignited. This production line is the No. 2 slate production line invested and built by Jinjiang Tengda Ceramics. It mainly produces 820×1400mm, 90For rock slabs with specifications such as 0×1800mm and 800×2000mm, three 800×2000×11mm rock slabs can be inserted horizontally and vertically, with a designed daily output of 19,000㎡.
In June, two production areas in Shanxi and Fujian successively put into operation large-size slate production lines. In 2022, from the perspective of production areas, after the rapid expansion of slate lines in Guangdong production areas from 2019 to 2020, the growth of new lines has stabilized. In fact, by the end of 2021, basically all the powerful ceramic companies in Guangdong production areas will have slate production lines. In production areas outside Guangdong, the number of small slate production lines is growing rapidly, but there are fewer ceramic companies that have put into production large-size slate production lines.
Overall, there are currently more than 257 large slab/rock slab/thin slab production lines in China, of which more than 97 are capable of producing 1200×2400mm rock slabs.
02
Leading brands continue to promote the development of the rock slab industry
On April 18, Oceano officially announced the launch of a new slate home brand "Aiko Slate Home". It is understood that Aiko Slate Home Furnishing is an innovative and comprehensive home furnishing brand focusing on high-end slate slabs and customized home furnishing industries. For the full-scenario application of high-definition rock slabs, it has launched various specifications and thickness systems such as 1600×3200×12mm, 800×2700×9mm, 1400×2700×3mm, etc. At the same time, it has built a self-built rock slab processing center and established a regional processing application service center. In other forms, we will create a delivery service system for finished slate products, open up the last mile of logistics, processing, warehousing, etc. that connects the market, and then build a complete product supply chain service system.
In addition to Oceano, leading ceramic companies such as Marco Polo, New Pearl, and Dongpeng will continue to promote the development of the slate business in the first half of 2022 and have completed the layout of their slate sub-brands.
Marco Polo Holdings - Marco Polo Slate;
New Pearl Group - New Pearl Slab;
Dongpeng Holdings——Dongpeng Slab;
Mona Lisa Group - Melchi Slate;
Oceano Ceramics - Aiko Slate Home Furnishing;
Shuncheng Ceramics Group - Shunhui Tiancheng Slate;
Nobel Ceramics – Nobel Slate.
As for the delivery of rock slabs, the leading ceramic companies are proceeding non-stop in an orderly manner across the country. Recently, the Zhejiang station of the Marco Polo slate finished product delivery service center was established. Its purpose is to provide more convenient logistics services, processing services, paving services, delivery services, etc. for small and medium-sized distribution service providers in Zhejiang Province. At the same time, the New Pearl Group’s Hebei delivery center was launched, which will promote the sales of slate slabs in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. New Mingzhu Group Mingzhu Kezhu has launched investment promotion for slate urban delivery centers and plans to establish 30 slate delivery centers across the country. And just today (June 20), Dongpeng also held a space design and delivery service conference, launching a one-stop space delivery service, improving the brick buying experience through the dual drive of design + delivery, and achieving multi-dimensional iterations. Renew and reshape the entire ceramic tile purchase link for consumers.
In addition, Shunhui promotes the package paving service, Oceano promotes the A+ space delivery service, and Jianyi promotes the finished product OK delivery service, which effectively promotes the development of the paving standardization system in the ceramic industry and the implementation of rock slab delivery.
While ceramic companies are improving their slate delivery service capabilities, they are also constantly expanding the national slate market. Since 2022, many slate brands have launched nationwide investment promotions, and with strong empowerment, they have achieved remarkable results in investment promotions.
On June 8, KIMS Stone Slab held the "Youth Plain Color Renewal and Upgrading Wealth Investment Promotion Conference" online, and finally successfully locked in 85 cities; on June 6, Merqi Slate held a national online live investment summit, and finally 60 cities were locked; on May 25, the New Pearl Slate Online Wealth Fair was held, and nearly 30 cities were successfully locked in the live broadcast room; on April 19; the 2022 spring live broadcast investment fair of Shunhui Tiancheng Slab was successfully concluded and successfully Target 9 major cities...
It can be seen from these investment data that slate is gradually being recognized by the market, and terminal demand is being tapped step by step.
03
Although the development of rock slabs has been hindered, terminal awareness has been opened
There is no doubt that the emergence of slate has broadened the application fields of traditional ceramic tiles and brought new incremental markets to the home customization industry for ceramic companies. However, many problems have been encountered in actual application, such as difficulty in transportation and handling, easy damage during processing, lack of professional teams in construction, and low brand awareness of slate slabs. After a period of rapid development, slate slabs cannot Open market access and gradually show weakness.
Some industry insiders said that the rock slab industry is currently experiencing a "funnel bottleneck." In other words, the front-end (production end) has been relatively perfect, but the channel has not been opened and the market has not been recognized. Due to the sharp "expansion" of slate production capacity, but the sales market has not been fully opened, the biggest problem faced by ceramic enterprises is the pressure of liquidation. At the end of 2021, there was news in the industry that the inventory of rock slabs was at least 10 billion yuan, and some rock slab manufacturers could reach more than 1 billion yuan.
Due to the excessive pressure on rock slab inventory, many rock slab manufacturers can only sell the stocked rock slabs as special price slabs at low prices in order to reduce the pressure and quickly return funds. This has greatly intensified the price war in the industry. In addition, since the sales of large-sized slates have not yet opened up, and the application of small-sized furniture slates has gradually been recognized, many ceramic companies can only convert their large-sized slate production lines to produce small-sized slates. This phenomenon can be confirmed by the fact that the mainstream specification of the large slab/rock slab production line put into production this year is 750×1500mm.
Although there are still certain pain points in the practical application of slate, in the long run, its market prospects are still very broad, and this has been recognized by many people in the industry. At the same time, in the terminal market, the consumer awareness and acceptance of slate has reached a very high level, and sales are also expanding step by step.
A few days ago, Zhang Shicha, director of the work department of the China Building and Sanitary Ceramics Association, and his delegation visited the Beijing Minlong Building Materials Market on issues such as the market attention of slate slabs. Local slate dealers said that slate is still the first choice for mid-to-high-end consumers, especially in areas such as TV walls, cabinets, and countertops. In comparison, rock slabs used directly on walls and floors are less popular among C-end consumers than ordinary large-size ceramic tiles. In terms of product specifications, the currentCurrently, the most widely used are 1.2×2.6/2.7m large panels and 0.9×1.8m small and medium-sized panels.
