Chinese ceramic products are flooding the Indian market that has been impacting the interest of domestic manufacturers to the extent that many small units are on the verge of closure, an Assocham study has said.

Ceramics manufacturers are not able to pass on the rise in input costs to consumers owing to the emerging competition from Chinese ceramic imports which further hurt their profitability, the industry body said its study.

“This has even lead to closure of certain ceramic units unable to bear rising production costs,” D S Rawat, Secretary General, Assocham said.

The production of ceramics has been significantly falling short of the prevailing local demand in India and despite making rapid strides for enhancing domestic production capabilities, China continues to be a major supplier of ceramic products to India, the study said.

Also, it said the rate of growth for import of Chinese ceramics into India has substantially risen from about eight per cent till a few years ago to over 42 per cent now.

China is probably the only country producing more than its existing consumption of ceramics and, therefore, looks for export markets to sell its surplus production, it added.

Besides, it said, other issues such as high freight, shortage of power and gas have been impacting Indian ceramics sector.

“It is the small and unorganised manufacturers who suffer the most due to limited access and lack of quality raw-material at reasonable prices,” Rawat said.

Thus, there is an urgent need to do away with the road blocks to ensure that the industry can work full throttle to its full potential, he added.

Published on April 18, 2013