Vietnam Restricts Imports of Chinese Tiles Chinese Tiles Exports Not Easy

According to analysis by industry experts, although Vietnam is not a major market for the export of ceramic tiles in China, it has followed the footsteps of South Korea and the European Union, two of China’s two largest export markets for ceramic tile, at the time of restricting the import of ceramic tiles in China. The signal sent by this is: The overseas market is gradually closing the door to Chinese tiles, and the export of Chinese tiles has never been smooth. Now, Vietnam will also join the ranks that contain Chinese tiles.

A few days ago, the reporter learned from the Ministry of Commerce that the Vietnam Ceramics Association has submitted a report to the government’s prime minister and proposed to increase the import tariffs on Chinese-made tiles to protect domestic production enterprises. Although the tile export companies surveyed all expressed their desire to respond actively, they still worry that the next disappearing market will be?

The fourth bad news of the year, the "Vietnamese Investment News," said in a recent article that Vietnam's current tile production capacity is more than 4 million square meters per year, which is greater than the actual demand of the domestic market. In the first 10 months of this year, Vietnam actually produced more than 3 million square meters of ceramic tile, but its inventory amounted to 800,000 square meters. It is expected that the total sales this year will be only 2.9 million square meters, which is lower than the 3.3 million square meters in 2010.

The Yue Ceramics Association believes that the decline in sales volume of domestic tiles is mainly due to the impact of cheap products from China. Reported that in 2010 the total imports of tiles reached 70 million US dollars, of which imports from China reached 51 million US dollars, is expected to import Chinese tiles this year will reach 100 million US dollars. The more ceramic tile production companies suggested that the import of Chinese tiles be taxed by area rather than by import price to achieve the purpose of limiting imports.

This is already the fourth bad news that Chinese ceramic tile manufacturers have heard this year. “The amount of tiles that we exported to Vietnam is not large, but once they initiate anti-dumping investigations, we will actively respond to them.” Yang Meiyu, general manager of Foshan Ceramics Co., Ltd., reluctantly told reporters that the continuous bad news. “Firstly, in June, South Korea’s anti-dumping ruling resulted in the result that we were levied a tariff of nearly 20%. Within 10% of companies, we can still think of ways to digest it. After all, the volume of exports to South Korea is very large, but the 20% tax rate is almost broken after our Road." Yang Meiyu said.

It is reported that in June this year, the South Korean Trade Commission made an anti-dumping judgment, ruling the anti-dumping tariff rate of 9.14% to 29.41% for Chinese ceramic tile manufacturers, and levying 16.07% anti-dumping tariffs on other suppliers and collecting them. The anti-dumping duty on Chinese tiles was extended for 3 years. "Followed by the final ruling on the EU anti-dumping case against China Ceramics on September 15, more than 1,440 Chinese ceramic companies involved in the EU market were punished by a punitive tariff ranging from 26.3% to 69.7%, which lasted for five years." Yang Meiyu told reporters that within three months, they had lost two major export markets in Korea and the EU.

In fact, not only South Korea and the European Union, but also other market areas have frequently "contained" Chinese ceramic products. Brazil is the fastest growing market for Chinese ceramic exports in recent years. Although there is currently no anti-dumping investigation on Chinese-made tiles, the recent import tariffs on tiles have been increased from the original 15% to 35%, and companies are required to hold licenses.

Kong Lingsa, deputy general manager of Mona Lisa Industrial Co., told reporters that if it is an anti-dumping case, companies can also actively file a lawsuit. However, Brazil did not explicitly put forward an anti-dumping case. As a business, it did not have any response. In this case, the government needs to strengthen negotiations with the other party.

The annual export volume of ceramic tiles in China is about 700 million square meters. Anti-dumping made the ceramic capital Foshan feel cold.

According to Chen Yanbin, chairman of Foshan Astra Goff Ceramics, the entire industry has been affected by rising costs, macroeconomic regulation, and appreciation of the renminbi since the beginning of this year. The succession of anti-dumping measures has made the company worse. At present, some companies in the industry have stopped kiln operations and reduced production. Some companies have simply withdrawn their export departments and even transformed and transferred them. “When South Korea and the EU imposed taxes on Chinese tiles, the industry’s biggest concern was that other countries might follow suit and form a domino effect. Now it seems that this effect has already been fulfilled.” said Yin Hong, secretary general of the Foshan Ceramics Industry Association. The European Union and South Korea were regions and countries with strong demand for pottery in the world. After anti-dumping duties were imposed on Chinese companies, the total export volume of some large domestic companies remained at the same level, due to the substantial increase in exports to emerging markets such as Vietnam and Brazil. Partial loss. However, the demonstration effect in the EU and South Korea is very strong. Vietnam and Brazil are also full of “hostility” to Chinese ceramic products.

He predicted that in the future, China's tile export enterprises will fall into the dilemma of lack of external demand.

How can an enterprise break through the ambush?

In this regard, many domestic ceramic companies believe that in the face of anti-dumping sanctions, China's ceramic export enterprises must first do is to improve product quality, produce high value-added products, and then export to foreign countries with higher prices. This not only avoids the annoyance of frequent anti-dumping, but also increases profits for enterprises.

Some companies that take the high-end route provide a path to learn from. Zeng Rongrong, the person in charge of Emperor's bathroom, said: “We are on the high-end route. Although the export volume is very large, in the recent years when the ceramics industry has been frequently dumped, we have basically not been affected because our own export prices are high, and We have a lot of foreign dealers."

Foshan Customs and the foreign trade and economic cooperation department suggested that enterprises should create the cultural carrier function of architectural ceramic tiles, promote the construction of cultural industries, and increase the added value of ceramic tiles so as to break through the anti-dumping activities of ceramic tiles. Tiles are currently one of the most commonly used materials for home decoration. Ceramic tile manufacturers should intensify innovation, use ceramic tiles as a carrier for Chinese cultural propaganda and dissemination, organically integrate Chinese traditional civilization into modern ceramic tile decoration, and use products to bring China to China. Culture is expressed so as to avoid homogenous competition and to develop new products with high added value.

Yin Hong provided a new way of reference: the transfer of export positions. He pointed out that the anti-dumping countries in China's ceramic tiles are often the world's largest producer of ceramic tiles or a large number of Chinese ceramic tile exporters.

According to statistics, the top ten countries and regions for the export of ceramic tiles in 2010 were Saudi Arabia, the United States, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Brazil, and Malaysia. Among them, South Korea, Thailand, and India have already carried out anti-dumping on Chinese tiles, and Malaysia has already imposed heavy taxes on Chinese tiles. “In view of this, it is not a bad idea to transfer export positions to deal with anti-dumping.” Yin Hong said.