How is US Market?

27 Jan 2016/CTW

US, as the biggest tile import country, is recovering from the recession in the previous years. According to the data issued by Association of Italian Manufactures of Machinery and Equipment for Ceramics (ACIMAC), the tile import volume of US summed up to 159 million sq.m. in 2014.




For the US ceramic market, consumption of tiles accounts for about 10% of the ground material. The figure of percentage is lower than most of the countries. In Italy, tiles enjoy a 60% market share, while Spain is even higher with 80%. The average consumption volume of the European countries is about 27%, which is nearly triple of US. However, the percentage is just for reference, market size is also needed to be took into consideration.


Why tile is not that popular in US?

The main reason for such a difference is the popularity of carpet in US. Floor Focus issued the estimated market share of different ground materials in US market. Carpet is ranking first on the list, enjoys 43.9% market share(about 8.14 billion dollar). And followed with ceramic tile(12.7%, accounts for 2.36 billion dollar). Carpet usually is regarded as kind of luxurious decorative material, and it is hard to reach such a high percentage in other markets. In Italy, carpet only accounts for 1.5% of the consumption of ground decorative material.




Another reason for this situation is because US advocates "Made in USA", for the purpose to protect employment and advocate environment friendly products. However, in spite of low cost of natural gas and energy sources in US, two third of products in US market are still imported from foreign countries because of the high labor force cost and manufacturing cost.



What's best selling tiles in US?

Rustic tile and large size tile are becoming more and more popular in US. US designers tend to use the rectangular wood-like ceramic tile. Ceramic companies in US can be divided into two types: the first type focuses on technology level, developing 6 inch long and 5mm thin tiles; the second type focuses on surface texture,optimizing the layering, design and pattern of tiles.




Which country is the largest source?

According to the data issued by US Commerce Department, China is the largest source of US import in 2013, which accounted for 29.4% import volume in 2014(total export volume of 46.7 million sq.m.) and became the second largest import source. Mexico ranked first with its 29.5% market share. And percentage of Italy, Spain and Turkey is respectively as 18.1%, 6.0% and 4.3%.




Italy still ranked first in the import value of US, which accounts for 34.8%. China enjoys a 25.7% in the second place, while Mexico with 16.5% in the third place. The three countries together account for 77% of US import value.



What's the price of tile in US?

On the basis of CIF price, tile from Italy is the most expensive one, followed with Spain, Turkey, China and Mexico. Even though China ranks second on the import volume, its price is still much lower than those from Italy and Spain.


(*Data based on Junuary- April, 2014)


For the proportion of transportation cost and import tariff in the total price, tiles from Italy share a 21.1%, and Mexico 6.1% because of the low transportation cost. Tiles from China enjoy the largest precentage among all countries, which is 33.7%.



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This is the 216th issue.

Editor: Yan

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