“I entered the business in July and quit in October. I only scheduled production for one month and couldn’t continue.”
From June to August 2020, due to small investment and quick production conversion, many ceramic companies in the industry quickly deployed small rock slab production lines. As a result, in less than half a year, the small rock slab market experienced a roller coaster-like sharp turn - price competition, color matching A single product has been sold out... Some manufacturers have ridiculed that the product has just left the kiln and is about to be cleared, and even if it is discounted, no one wants it.
Small rock slabs are undoubtedly the most popular product in the industry this year, and also the most thoroughly bad product...
Severe liquidation
The products are processed as soon as they come out of the kiln, and no one wants them even if they are discounted
“The small rock slabs have just come out of the kiln, and they are already being cleared out before they are sold.”
Wang Hui (pseudonym) has been very busy recently. His brand started laying out small rock slabs in July this year. In less than half a year, the inventory has been exhausted.
“Our company’s Xiaoyanban’s current monthly sales are less than 20 million, and there is a large inventory backlog every month. Now we are doing nothing but busy clearing inventory. The pressure is too great. I feel scared when I hear Xiaoyanban. ." Wang Hui teased with a bitter smile.
After nearly half a year of intense price competition and head-to-head combat, most small slate manufacturers have recently begun to “sell goods” due to bottoming out prices, blocked channels, and inventory explosions. "We supply countertops for cabinets, and the order price is 170 yuan/㎡. Now we are selling them at 20% off for 130 yuan, but we still can't sell them," said one interviewee.
Lin Jiang (pseudonym) was probably one of the first people to join Xiaoyanban, and he also tasted the "sweetness" brought by Xiaoyanban. Due to the small investment and low production, logistics and other costs, starting in August 2019, ceramic companies represented by Lin Jiang and others saw the market dividends brought by small rock slabs and quickly entered the market.
“The group of people who just started making small rock slabs have indeed made money.” Lin Jiang said that at the end of 2019, a processing factory offered more than 10 million yuan to purchase 100,000 square meters of small rock slab products, and some manufacturers even directly contacted furniture factories Signed an order for small rock slabs worth 50 million yuan.
But the good times did not last long. "The small rock slabs came and went quickly, like a roller coaster," said many interviewees. By 2020, more and more manufacturers have gathered to enter the field of small rock slabs, and even professional managers of ceramic companies and background wall manufacturers have joined in. For a time, price wars are raging. Especially from June to July, as more and moreWhen a manufacturer launched small rock slabs, Lin Jiang sensed a crisis.
According to rough statistics from "Ceramic Information", from May to September 2020, nearly 20 ceramic companies in Guangdong have deployed slate production lines, most of which are small slate production lines. “In the first half of 2020, the price of small rock slabs dropped by 60% compared to the second half of 2019.” One respondent said.
"One of our glass factory customers had an inventory of RMB 20 million. Suddenly the price dropped by 30%. The inventory has already lost RMB 6 million. How can we make any money?" Lin Jiang saw something was wrong. In August this year, while ceramic companies were still concentrating on changing production lines, they began to clear their inventories and prepare to retreat.
"There is no way, we have to cut it down, and we are reluctant to give up. It is really too fast. Up to now, we still have several thousand square meters of inventory that have not been cleared, and we have already lost money." Speaking of small rock slabs, Lin Jiang still I feel very sorry.
Like Lin Jiang, at this stage, most manufacturers see signs that something is wrong and quickly make a U-turn, gradually withdrawing from the field of small slates and turning to the production of other ceramic tile categories. "When thousands of troops cross a single-plank bridge, some of them will always fall into the ditch. Now, what you earn from making small rock slabs is not the price difference of the slabs, but the freight. The slabs have no profit at all. What do you think?" A small rock slab manufacturer is responsible. said the man.
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The quality is difficult to control, the market is chaotic, and the designs and colors are single
"What we are doing is unsustainable, and those outside are trying their best to squeeze in."
"Those who are determined to do it will find it difficult to continue, and people outside the siege are trying their best to squeeze in." In the eyes of most industry insiders, this is a true portrayal of the development of the small rock slab market in 2020.
Most manufacturers believe that small rock slabs have low investment and are easy to switch to production. But in fact, it is not easy to enter the small rock board. "After many people came in, they found that it was not the same thing at all. It was difficult to control the quality of small rock slabs, especially the processing performance. Many people made a batch of goods, but they couldn't sell them, and then sold them at special prices, causing chaos in the entire small rock slab market. ”
In addition, Lin Jiang said that small rock slabs have experienced such "ups and downs". In addition to most manufacturers not going online quickly without market research, there is also a fatal flaw - the colors are too single.
Due to channel restrictions, small rock slabs generally go through processing factory channels and are processed into furniture panels such as coffee table tops and bathroom counter tops. "andTraditional furniture such as coffee tables, TV cabinets, and dining tables. For example, if these colors are printed this year, then the entire market this year will basically be dominated by these colors. Lin Jiang said, this has resulted in the products of almost all small rock slab manufacturers having roughly the same colors.
Lin Jiang even took a new approach and spontaneously developed several designs that were rare on the market. In his own words, he "died" on these designs. "Because now for small rock slabs, differentiation and specialization are no longer the selling points, only 'low price' is the selling point."
In the opinion of many interviewees, the market for small rock slabs has always been there. Even though the products are now "bad", many processing plants still have a certain demand.
"We now use the processing factory channel for more than 20 million yuan every month. It is not that there is no market. The main reason is that there are too many people doing it, and it has become rotten." Another interviewee said that its recent I went to a small slate processing factory with an area of about 10,000 square meters. Three machines were running at the same time. It was so busy every day that it couldn't deliver the goods in time. ”
Not only Foshan, but also ceramic companies have set their target markets in Hebei, Chaozhou and other places. Because they are close to the furniture and bathroom distribution centers, there are many slate processing factories located here. There are even ceramic companies directly setting up general agents in Chengdu and other places to reduce the costs incurred in intermediate links and specifically connect with local furniture factories and processing plants.
An interviewee said, “Although there is no money to be made from making small rock slabs, we can still make a lot of money, which is better than shutting down the kiln. There are some large-scale rock slab processing factories in Chaozhou, and the largest one can process 7,000 slabs a day. To cut small rock slabs, 10 waterjet cutting machines are running at the same time. "The market channel for small rock slabs has always been there, but it has been limited by its rapid development, resulting in overcapacity and bottoming out of profits.
At present, some small slate manufacturers have expanded their channels. In addition to processing factories, bathroom and other channels, they will also expand to traditional home decoration channels, such as wall and floor use as wall panels. There are even manufacturers actively expanding engineering channels to replace some stone applications.
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Many small rock slab manufacturers have “exited”
Prices rebounded, rising by 5-10 yuan per square meter
After experiencing continuous price declines, the price of small rock slabs began to slowly recover..
Recently, a number of small rock slab manufacturers have issued product price increase notices, saying that due to the recent surge in natural gas prices, as well as the continuous increase in packaging materials, basic materials, etc., the sales prices of the rock slab series products will be increased by 5-10 yuan/square meter. .
"The increase in raw material prices is on the one hand, there is no money to be made in small rock slabs, and if the price does not increase, we will lose money; on the other hand, we also want to send a signal - the price of small rock slabs cannot fall anymore."< /p>
It is understood that at present, some small rock slab manufacturers have clearly withdrawn from the transformation. "Now everyone knows that it is difficult to make, the products cannot be sold, and some have already quit, then the price will definitely rise. The remaining small rock slabs Most of the manufacturers entered the market earlier and have a relatively stable customer base.”
"Ceramic Information" found that from the end of this year to next year, most of the slate production lines planned to be built are large-sized slates. After this round of fierce price wars, some small slate manufacturers have directly transformed their production lines into And produces 600×1200mm and 750×1500mm ceramic tile products. In this regard, some people in the industry predict that in 2021, 750×1500mm products will explode.
Lin Jiang said, "In fact, we have long expected that small rock slabs will experience a price war, but the situation develops too fast. Some people even fell into the pit as soon as they entered the game."
In the opinion of most people in the industry, due to the lack of rationality in the market, small rock slabs have quickly become "bulk goods" and the market is chaotic. But it is undeniable that small rock slabs have indeed brought vitality to the development of the industry. At the same time, both production equipment and manufacturing processes have been improved to a certain extent, which has also boosted the development of the industry to a certain extent.
(The article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
