In recent times, fuel costs have risen sharply in southern production areas such as Guangdong and Jiangxi, and have reached the highest summer gas price since the "coal-to-gas" transition - natural gas prices in Guangdong production areas have reached a maximum of 4.5 yuan/㎡, and in Jiangxi production areas The maximum price is 4.28 yuan/m³. This has greatly widened the cost gap with northern production areas.
A few days ago, "Ceramic Information" learned from many ceramic enterprises in Shandong that due to the huge difference in fuel prices between northern and southern ceramic enterprises, Zibo and other northern ceramic enterprises have certain advantages in terms of production costs.
For Shandong production areas, although the ceramic industry is still in the off-season, the return of customer orders is gradually becoming a trend.
Affected by this, many ceramic companies in Shandong recently told "Ceramic Information": "I feel that the sales situation is significantly better than before." At the same time, the sales radius of some ceramic manufacturers has also further extended outwards.
As we all know, in the ceramic tile production process, fuel costs account for about 30%, so the level of fuel costs greatly affects the comprehensive production costs of various ceramic companies. Therefore, whoever has lower fuel costs will have an inherent advantage in product production costs.
Since 2016, Zibo ceramic production area took the lead in implementing "coal-to-gas" in the industry, excessive production costs have made it difficult for Zibo ceramic enterprises to compete with "coal-fired" manufacturers, resulting in many ceramic enterprises in Zibo Customers were lost and market share shrank significantly.
The same is true for Linyi, another important ceramics production area in Shandong. Since all ceramic enterprises switched from coal to gas in 2019, the sales scope originally sold to all parts of the country has shrunk rapidly, and the customers in their hands have also been "gived up."
In the past few years, most ceramic companies in Shandong have been at a great disadvantage in terms of fuel costs, and the sales radius of most manufacturers has eventually shrunk to less than 500 kilometers.
Nowadays, as surrounding production areas gradually switch to natural gas production, the fuel cost-led cost advantage of surrounding ceramic companies has gradually narrowed, and the fuel cost disadvantage of Zibo ceramic production has gradually become smaller.
Since the beginning of this year, as the prices of natural gas and coal in production areas such as Guangdong and Jiangxi have increased higher than those of Shandong ceramic companies, the fuel advantages of Shandong production areas have gradually accumulated, and the fuel cost differences among ceramic companies in the north and south regions have instantly reversed. .
It is understood that the current price of natural gas per cubic meter in Shandong production areas is 2.7-2.8Yuan, while the price of natural gas per cubic meter for many ceramic companies in Guangdong production areas is around 4 yuan, resulting in a cost difference of almost 2 yuan per square meter of ceramic tiles produced by Shandong and Guangdong ceramic companies.
In fact, since July, due to the off-season sales, power cuts, and skyrocketing costs, many domestic ceramic companies have suspended production and production lines. Especially after the price of natural gas rose sharply, some southern customers gradually moved their orders. Moved to Shandong.
"Currently, many lost customers are returning. Although the overall sales pressure is still not small, I feel that the sales situation is getting better day by day recently, and customer shipments are not bad." Deputy General Manager of Linyi General Building Ceramics Co., Ltd. Zhang Mingsheng told "Ceramic Information".
Zhang Mingsheng analyzed that the reasons for the above situation are actually very simple. First, many customers are worried about the impact of the epidemic and the products will not be available in time, so some customers with good sales began to reserve some products; second, the general building ceramics products are fully equipped , is an ideal one-stop shopping choice for customers; third, the product popularity of General Building Ceramics has gradually increased. Nowadays, the production cost gives Dajunjian Ceramics a great advantage. This is also an important factor for many foreign customers to place orders with Dajunjian Ceramics.
In recent years, the production costs of ceramic companies in the Zibo production area have been much higher than those of surrounding ceramic companies. Zibo can only win the market by relying on high cost performance and quick development of designs and colors. Taking large boards as an example, in addition to being cost-effective, the prices of large boards of most ceramic companies in Zibo are not advantageous in the industry, and it is even more difficult to compete with ceramic companies in Guangdong and Jiangxi.
But since this year, as the difference in fuel costs has reversed instantly, the sales radius of Zibo's large slabs has gradually extended outwards. "In recent times, the sales radius of our company's large slabs has been extending outwards, and the sales radius has expanded a lot." Wang Qingguo, general manager of Zibo Jingqili Ceramics Co., Ltd., told "Ceramic Information".
Zhou Chong, the sales manager of Zibo Zhilian Ceramics Co., Ltd., also told "Ceramic Information", "The recent sales situation has indeed improved than before, and this phenomenon has lasted for more than 10 days. It is worth mentioning that our company has recently There are also many new construction site customers from the northwest region, and most of these customers mainly purchase large-size products such as 750×1500mm and 900×1800mm.”
At present, it is the off-season for the ceramic industry, and most ceramic companies in Zibo are still under great sales pressure. It is not common for sales to gradually improve. However, as the fuel cost advantage continues to accumulate, the trend of Zibo's sales radius extending outward will become more obvious.
“This phenomenon will become more and more obvious. However, due to the current epidemic and the off-season of the market, this phenomenon will appear slowly. However, it will become more and more obvious as Zibo’s advantages gradually become more prominent. It is not just about sales. The radius will gradually expand, and some of the old customers who have been lost will gradually shift their orders to Zibo," Song Feng said.
(Article reproduced from Ceramic Information)
