The Hindu Business Line : US, UK marked focus markets for ceramic products

A COMPREHENSIVE Market Access Initiative (MAI) project for giving a major push to export of Indian ceramic and related products to select markets, submitted some time ago to the Government by Capexil, has recently been cleared for implementation.

The project relates to select focus markets such as the US, Mexico and the UK, and is expected to provide an overview of the world trade in ceramics, with special accent on Indian ceramic product exports. It will include a market study to analyse the existing and potential demand in the focus markets and generate enquiries.

Export of ceramics and allied products including refractories, according to estimated figures, has recorded a growth of 20.6 per cent during 2003-04 at $191 million (Rs 879 crore), up from the $159 million (Rs 727 crore) recorded in 2002-03.

Europe accounts for 42.5 per cent of world export of ceramic products, followed by Asia (18.5 per cent) and North America (14.5 per cent). The top 10 exporting countries are Germany, Austria, France, the UK, Italy, Belgium, China, Japan, the US and Canada, accounting for nearly 76 per cent of total world exports. India, with a meagre share of 0.34 per cent, is ranked 36th in world export of ceramic products.

The top 10 importing countries worldwide are the US, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Hong Kong, the UK, Canada, Belgium-Lux and Mexico. Of these, the Mexican market is said to be recording the highest growth, followed by the US and Japan.

Ceramics and related products account for a major share of Capexil's basket of export items. The MAI project will involve identification of focus product groups in ceramics, justification behind choosing the focus product, rationale behind choice of focus markets and budgetary inputs on project costs and justification.

Talking to Business Line here recently, Mr S.K. Ghosh, Senior Vice-Chairman of Capexil, whose members account for total exports of over Rs 19,000 crore annually, said the four identified focus products of the MAI project were ceramic insulators, ceramic building-ware, including tiles and sanitary-ware, ceramic household articles or pottery-ware and advanced ceramics. India, he felt, was among the few countries in the world which manufactures high quality Bone Chinaware, which has good demand, particularly in the English speaking and developed countries.

Outlining the strengths of the Indian industry, he said considerable modernisation has taken place in several sub sectors of the Indian ceramic industry, particularly sanitary-wares, tiles, insulators etc in the last decade and half, and sufficient surplus capacity has been created in these sectors to meet overseas demand. Thanks to induction of modern technologies, the Indian ceramics sector is today well equipped to face competition in the world trade arena, he pointed out. He said big opportunities have now opened up for Indian exports in this area, as advanced nations have largely vacated manufacture of traditional ceramic products and moved over to advanced ceramics.

Commenting on the need for skilled technical personnel to promote growth in ceramics industry, Mr Ghosh said that under the MAI project, the R&D component should be so geared to give a big boost to this fast growing sector and tap the world market for the same. The US and the UK are the focus markets for export promotion of ceramic building wares from India. The major Indian export destinations for building wares are UAE, Saudi Arabia and other West Asian countries, Sri Lanka, the UK (mainly ceramic sanitary-ware, and African countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and East Africa.

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