ith China dumping as high as 64% of ceramic product needs in India, a number of units in the country’s ceramic industry are on the verge of closure due to stiff competition and reduced profit margins, according to a survey conducted by Assocham.

As much as 70% of Indian ceramic industry’s production comes from Gujarat where over 250 units are located near Morbi in Rajkot district alone. This cluster employs over 67,000 people and has a turnover of Rs 3,500 crore, said D S Rawat, Secretary General, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

In recent times, out of ceramic imports worth $497 million, China accounted for 64%, followed by Germany (7%) and France (4%). Till a few years ago, Chinese ceramic imports amounted to only 8%, it said.

Increased freight, costlier raw materials, and supply of power and gas were other factors impacting Indian ceramic industry. “Ceramics manufacturers are not able to pass on the rise in input costs to the consumers owing to the emerging competition from Chinese ceramic imports which further hurts their profitability and has even led to closure of certain ceramic units unable to bear rising production costs,” Assocham said.

The ceramic sector in India needs to come up with innovative product lines which would help strengthen the country’s export performance, it said.

The Rs 18,000 crore worth of Indian ceramic tile industry, comprising tiles for floor, vitrified tiles, porcelain tiles, wall tiles, industrial tiles and sanitaryware, is a highly fragmented one, with majority of SMEs and some large players involved in it.

The total world production of ceramics stands at over 9,500 million square metres, with China accounting for 4,200 mn sq mt, followed by Brazil (753 mn sq mt) and India (550 mn sq mt).