It was very common that ceramic factories backlog the tiles earlier in the year and raise tile prices late in the year. For this year, as soaring price of raw material cause a rising cost price, some ceramic companies have already increased tile prices earlier in the year. The study shows that soaring price in cartons, fuels, chemical raw materials and freight are the leading causes of increasing tile prices.

In 2017, quite a lot of ceramic companies from across the nation have increased tile prices. But, many insiders said, the well-known ceramic brands could hedge against tile-price volatility thanks to their brand premium. Therefore, few of them increased tile prices earlier in the year. Basically, it is those small ceramic brands which frequently increased tile prices as they were more vulnerable to the fluctuating prices of raw materials. 

Nevertheless, now, some well-known ceramic brands are also tempt to increase tile prices because of the soaring cost prices. On 14th December, the northern marketing center of Dongpeng Ceramics, one of the biggest ceramic brands in China, issued a notice to increase tile prices. The notice shows that, the short supply of raw materials caused a rise of prices which led to an escalating cost prices. Therefore, from 1th January 2018, the price for all kinds of tiles will increase by 10% around.

According to a seller who works for a company providing OEM for well-known brands, in the first half of this year, tile prices of well-known brands did not fluctuate obviously as their profit margins still existed. But from October to present, his company has increased tile prices for three times. The prices for rustic tiles and interior wall tiles have been increased by 0.1 yuan/piece to 0.3 yuan/piece. 

In this year, the price for chemical raw materials, fuels and cartons kept increasing. For example, the price for titanium dioxide was only 11,000 yuan/ton in 2016. But now, it has increased to 17,500 yuan/ton. As for caustic soda, the price has also increased from 4,000 yuan/ton to nearly 5,000 yuan/ton. And for zirconium silicate, the price has risen from 10,000 yuan/ton to 12,000 yuan/ton. Meanwhile, the average price of cartons has reached 4472.22 yuan/ton, up 49.07% than that of 2016. Besides, the natural gas is in supply shortage. Obviously, the climbing prices of these raw materials directly pushed up the cost prices for ceramic companies. That is why many ceramic companies have to raise tile prices to neutralize the cost pressure. 

It is worth noted that, in 2017, ceramic companies face an increasing environmental pressure. The upgrading of environmental facilities and environmental protection have caused a sharp spike in running costs. And, the Environmental Protection Tax Law of the People's Republic of China(PRC) is going to come into effect in 2018, but many ceramic companies are still fall short of the new discharge standards. So, ceramic companies may see a further increase in cost prices. Many representatives of ceramic companies said, in 2018, the tile prices have to sustain growth so as to ensure the profit margins.