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S. Shanker

Mumbai, Sept. 9Even as the real estate market demand has shown a distinct slowdown, tile manufacturer H&R Johnson (India) Ltd is expanding its Rajkot facility, which makes vitrified tiles.

H&R Johnson (India) is by far the largest tile maker on the domestic front, with sales of about Rs 1,000 crore. With an annual production of 40 million sq metres, the company is said to have a market share of about 30 per cent.

Mr Vijay Aggarwal, Managing Director, said the company’s focus was on retail — direct to customer — and there had been no slowdown in the segment. Moreover, imports from China were coming down. “Last year, it was around Rs 1,000 crore and this year, we expect it to come down to Rs 200-300 crore, due to withdrawal of export incentives by the Chinese Government and also increased transportation cost,” he said.

Sales of the company’s vitrified product ‘Marbonite’ was Rs 425 crore during 2007-08 and is expected to go up to Rs 650 crore this fiscal.

Mr Aggarwal, however, conceded that margins were under pressure and residual imports were bound to impact sales as importers, who had earlier been focussing on developers, were trying to divert their stocks to retailers.

Last month, the company raised prices by about 3 per cent on vitrified tiles, ranging between Rs 40 and Rs 150. Consumer demand lay in the Rs 40-70 price band, he said.

Production at the Rajkot unit, which is a joint venture with Antique Granito Pvt Ltd, will go up from the present 22,000 sq metres a day to 30,000 sq metres. This would be achieved by adding one more kiln to the existing three on the premises at a cost of Rs 50 crore, by December.

More Stories on : New Projects | Ceramics

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