A few days ago, Taocheng Daily overseas ceramic factory research came to Uzbekistan, and spent a week to continuously investigate and visit the Uzbek building materials market and the most representative local ceramic factory.
Let's start with a set of data:
In 2022, Uzbekistan had a total population of 37 million people and a GDP of $80.4 billion. The export volume of ceramic tiles was 12.3 million square meters, with an amount of 50 million US dollars, and the import volume of ceramic tiles was 6.5 million square meters, with an amount of 41.2 million US dollars. As of the time of writingThere are 13 local ceramic factories in Uzbekistan, with a daily production capacity of about 2250,000 square meters
According to the visit, the local mid-to-high-end market is dominated by imported bricks, including Italy, Spain, China and India. Among them, 600 600mm and 600 1200mm glazed bricks from China and India are the mainstay. Chinese bricks are sold at $16-20 per square meter, and Indian bricks are sold at $14-19 per square meter
But this industry landscape will soon be disrupted.
Previously, Taocheng Daily reported that in recent years, including Turkey, Algeria and other production areas that traditionally adopt the Italian small-output system, have begun to phase out old equipment and increase single-line outputThe Chinese-funded overseas factory is to give full play to the scale of production. This will have a huge impact on every market.
It is understood that some Chinese-funded enterprises will also build a new factory in Uzbekistan next year (2024), planning a production line with a capacity of 50,000 square meters in the first phase, and another one in the second phase. If the project is progressed according to the node, then the local production capacity will be added by 100,000 days. There will also be overcapacity in the local area, which will have a significant impact on the local market and the markets of the surrounding exporting countries.
To summarize the market situation in Uzbekistan:
1) Let's look at the high-end products first, the 3200 1600mm rock slab here is priced by one piece. Italy, Spain and China cost between $600 and $800 per piece. Due to the liberalization of the Uzi policy, many large-scale projects are under construction, and there is a certain demand for high-end products.
2) Taocheng Daily visited relatively high-end exhibition halls, such as Marazi, Laminam, Turkey Kale, etc., mainly to undertake engineering projects, providing products and design supporting services. According to local dealers, the largest project purchase volume ever made reached 20,000 square meters.
3) The low-end sales are mainly local red bricks, with small specifications such as 300 300mm, 300 600mm, and local bricks ** at 6-10 US dollars per square meter
4) Imported bricks from China and India, white billet, 600 600mm, 600 1200mm, glazed bricks. Chinese bricks** cost $16-20 per square meter, Indian bricks** cost $14-19 per square meter, and Chinese bricks are slightly more expensive.
We visited several building materials market research in the capital Tashkent and found that the basic tile stores are mainly selling Chinese bricks, supplemented by Iran, India, and China. Through communication with the store, they all said that the quality of Chinese bricks is better than that of other imported bricks, and the customer satisfaction is high. New customers will give priority to recommending Chinese bricks. This once again verifies the point of view expressed by our Taocheng newspaper before, in the global market, Chinese ceramic tiles are synonymous with excellent quality and high cost performance.
Uzbekistan is rich in mineral resources. It is understood that 1.3 billion tons of kaolin have been explored, and the raw materials of other ceramics have reached 19.8 billion cubic meters. It can basically meet the production of local small-sized tiles.
In June this year, Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a contract for the export and delivery of natural gas. According to the contract, Russia will supply 2.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Uzbekistan over the next two years. The cost of natural gas locally is about 12 yuan cubic meters, which is one-third of Guangdong. The price of electricity is about 09 degrees.
Labor costs are also relatively cheap. Most of the workshop labor costs are about 150-200 US dollars (equivalent to 1050-1400 yuan) per month.
Although the cost advantage of the manufacturing end is obvious, most enterprises lack production technical support, and can only do 600 600mm tiles, and there is a local one that can do 1200 600mm, but the production is unstable and the quality rate is not high. So at present, most of the 1200 600mm tiles are imported from China, Iran, India.
As mentioned earlier, the local industrial landscape in Uzbekistan is about to undergo new changes.
It is understood that in July 2023, a Chinese-funded ceramic factory has started a construction project. The project is planned to be constructed in two phases. The main production specifications of 600 600mm, 800 800mm, 600 1200mm, 750 1500mm, thickness of 9-12mm high-end antique bricks and full glazed bricks, the first phase of the output of 50,000 days, the second phase of the construction is planned to be completed after the output of 100,000 days.
After the above-mentioned production line is put into operation, the Uzi market will usher in changes next year. The competition in the market of 600 600mm and 600 1200mm ceramic tiles has become fierce, and the local market is facing overcapacity.
Local merchants said that at present, the local 750 1500mm products have not been included in the market sales category, and perhaps the next step will gradually create 750 1500mm and 900 1800mm sales space.