wen/chancan
If slate is the most popular product in the ceramic industry, I believe no one would open their eyes and tell lies to object.
According to statistics, there are currently 55 slate production lines built in China, and 17 slate production lines are planned to be completed/put into operation in the second half of the year. If this momentum continues, the number of domestic slate production lines will approach 100 in 2021; some industry insiders even predict that this number may reach 300 within three years.
From July 8th to 11th, 12 ceramic companies exhibited rock slabs at the 22nd Guangzhou Construction Expo, exaggeratingly saying that the Construction Expo, which attracted more than 1,600 companies to participate in the exhibition, instantly became a "Rock Expo" ——The rock slab has become the “most beautiful boy” in Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center.
At the Foshan Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition, which opened on July 20, most of the more than 300 ceramic companies and equipment companies participating in the exhibition exhibited rock slabs and production equipment and processing equipment closely related to rock slabs. It is no exaggeration to say that the Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition has completely turned into the "Tanzhou Slate Exhibition" - even ceramic companies that have not yet been involved in slates will pretend to casually set up a slate front desk in the booth and place a rock slab. If you don’t have a flat table, you’d be too embarrassed to come to the exhibition.
▲Stone slabs at Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition
Stone slabs are so popular. Is it a blessing or a worry for the ceramic industry? Brother Chan boldly asks three questions today.
一
Slate outlet, who is the winner?
Since slate is so popular, at least in terms of production, it is not wrong to say that its popularity has arrived. However, let’s not forget the “history of change” in the ceramic industry from large slabs to rock slabs:
About 2017-2018, that is, two years before the rise of slate slabs, large slabs were the most eye-catching product in the ceramic industry. At first, only some ceramic companies issued "o; no big boards, no big brands", later almost all ceramic companies followed suit and shouted the slogan "no big boards, no brands", but the market for big boards is like the belly of an infertile woman. It never gets bigger.
In 2019, slate suddenly came out, quickly replacing large slabs and becoming the most popular Internet celebrity in the building ceramics industry. Ceramic companies have embraced the new and disliked the old, and changed the slogan of "No big slabs, no big brands" In order to "no rock slabs, no big names".
Looking back now, it seems that none of the ceramic companies that followed the trend and made big boards achieved breakthrough development by relying on big boards.
Some people may say that rock slabs are different from large slabs after all. They can not only be used as traditional ceramic tiles on walls and floors, but can also be used cross-border to replace stone, wood and other materials. Such a good material, it is impossible not to become popular. Heavenly principles.
However, will the ceramic industry be the biggest winner after the slate becomes popular? not necessarily. Many stone companies are producing cross-border slates and compete with ceramic companies for the slate market; there are also home customization companies, stone and glass processing plants. Although they have reached cooperative relationships with ceramic companies in the field of slates, they have not obtained the slates from the slates. The benefits obtained are obviously more than those of ceramic companies; not to mention that there are leading real estate companies with huge sums of money and more sophisticated people who are watching the fire from the other side, ready to cross-border robberies at any time.
Even if the ceramic industry will become the biggest winner in the slate trend, the final winners will only belong to a few ceramic companies in the first echelon; most Not only will ceramic companies not be able to develop because of rock slabs, but they will also be led to a dead end by the high threshold of "starting at 100 million per line" for rock slab production.
二
They all make slates, who will sell the bricks?
Most ceramic people know, or many ceramic people pretend to know, that rock slabs are different from large slabs and ordinary ceramic tiles, mainly because of their different application fields and different marketing channels.
Then the problem comes.
Regardless of whether the actual situation allows it, assuming that most ceramic companies have the ability to invest in slate production, who will sell the produced slates?
From the manufacturer level, it is natural for ceramic companies to sell their own products, open up different marketing channels from ordinary ceramic tiles and large slabs, and directly establish cooperative relationships with home customization companies, stone and glass processing factories, and work together with them.Together, we will create a series of complete supply chains and industrial clusters including slate manufacturing, processing, warehousing, logistics, and installation. This is destined to make it difficult for ceramic people who have been immersed in traditional dealer channels for a long time to play a big role in it.
If ceramic people cannot do these jobs, ceramic companies involved in rock slabs will definitely introduce talents across industries. Will ceramic people be eliminated from ceramics because of this? industry?
From a terminal perspective, ceramic people all know that you cannot sell rock slabs with the idea of selling ceramic tiles. In other words, dealers are basically out of touch with slate sales, at least for now.
If things go on like this, all ceramic companies are trying to grab the limelight of rock slabs. Can dealers still be able to settle down and sell bricks well?
三
If rocks are used instead of bricks, who will pay?
In the article "The Pain Points and Market Prospects of Rock Slabs" delivered by Dr. Yin Hong, a well-known figure in the ceramics industry, on many occasions, "expensive" is the number one pain point of slate slabs.
There is nothing wrong with this. The rebuttal of some experts seems to be more reasonable: In fact, expensiveness is not the pain point of rock slabs, poverty is the shortcoming of us not being able to afford rock slabs.
From Dr. Yin Hong’s rational analysis and the ridicule of the gangsters, we know that rock slabs are indeed expensive, enough to prohibit most people.
The price mentioned here is, on the one hand, the price of the slate itself; second, the price of slate processing; third, the price of finished slate products such as slate dining tables and other customized furniture; and fourth, the price of slate from the factory in the form of raw materials. The price of transportation and handling, installation or paving out and circulated to users in the form of finished products.
With the increasing number of production lines and the gradual improvement of production technology, the production cost of rock slabs will continue to decrease, and its own price will certainly continue to decrease; as the supply chain and industrial clusters of rock slabs become increasingly perfect, the price of rock slabs will continue to decrease. The prices of processing and finished products will also continue to decrease. However, no matter how the above prices are reduced, it will be difficult to reduce the price of rock slab transportation, handling and installation, and paving, because the labor costs of transportation, installation, or paving will only get higher and higher.
Based on this, we might as well make a bold guess that in the future, the price of rock slabs may drop to tens of yuan per square meter, but with the cost of transportation, handling, installation, and paving, it will still cost hundreds or even thousands of yuan per square meter. square meters. In a word, pays for itConsidering the price of the rock slab itself, we cannot afford the value-added services of the slab.
In this case, even if slate can really replace ceramic tiles and have the possibility of being installed on walls and floors in thousands of households, it will still be subject to high transportation costs(A crane is often needed) and the paving fee (It is often doubled manually) and are abandoned by ordinary consumers. Let’s use an analogy to illustrate:
In the past, an ordinary household might only need 20,000 yuan to buy ceramic tiles and lay them. If there are no ceramic tiles in the market and can only buy slate slabs, the cost may be doubled or even more. Originally I only wanted to buy bicycles, or at most motorcycles, but now I want to buy cars or even luxury cars. Do you think consumers can do that?
It is undeniable that with its advantages of "simple and elegant, unlimited extension, veneer-based, cross-border application, rich texture, strong plasticity, anti-destructive strength, acid and alkali resistance, wear resistance, and anti-fouling", rock slabs can both As ceramic tiles for wall and floor paving, it can also be used for home customization. It is a "revolutionary new material" that combines the functions and advantages of ceramic tiles, stone, wood and other construction and decoration materials, breaking application boundaries and realizing cross-border integration.
However, although rock slabs are very good, you still need to be cautious when following the trend. This article is a personal opinion and only represents Brother Chan’s personal views. If you don’t like it, feel free to criticize it, and you are welcome to comment!
Author: Zen Can
