Ceramics brace for high demand

Ceramic tableware is in the race to keep up with growing demand on domestic and international markets. Photo: FARR CERAMICS Sajjadur Rahman

Domestic and export demand for ceramic tableware is rising rapidly, widening the gap between its demand and supply.

The demand-supply gap was estimated at 21,257 tonnes in fiscal 2007-08. It is expected to rise to 22,544 tonnes in four years, according to a recent study by the syndication department of Prime Bank Ltd.

“Bangladesh enjoys a comparative advantage in manufacturing ceramic tableware, particularly in export markets, due to cost competitiveness,” said Touhidul Alam Khan, executive vice president and head of the syndication finance unit of Prime Bank.

Ceramic manufacturing is a gas-based, labour intensive and skills-oriented business.

Traditionally, Japan, UK, Germany and other European countries dominated exports of ceramic tableware to world markets. But a jump in production costs, including wages and currency appreciation, made ceramic manufacturing unfeasible for the nations.

Khan said Bangladesh has certain competitive advantages over its competitors an availability of gas, cheap labour and the generalised system of preferences (GSP) that allows Bangladesh's duty-free exports to Europe. There is no quota restriction either on the export.

There are nine ceramic tableware manufacturing companies in the country with a total capacity of nearly 24,000 tonnes a year as of 2008, of which an average of 48 percent is being exported and the remaining 52 percent is used in the domestic market, the study found.

Bangladesh exported ceramic tableware worth over $33 million in fiscal 2008-09, of which over 80 percent was destined to Italy, UK, USA, Germany, France, Canada and Sweden.

“We are getting export orders from new countries, like Turkey and India, every month,” said Iftekhar Uddin Farhad, managing director of FARR Ceramics, a fully export-oriented factory. The company's exports to India will cross Tk 5 crore in 2009, he said.

“Our factory, which has a production capacity of around 30,000 pieces, is fully booked for the next months," Farhad said.

Monno and Shinepukur ceramics have the highest production capacity of nearly 60,000 pieces a day followed by Standard Ceramic industries with 40,000 pieces a day, the study shows.

Ceramic tableware is considered sophisticated, fashionable and an indispensable household item worldwide. The products are also being used in all types of social functions, offices, community centres, hospitals, hotels and restaurants.

“Ceramic tableware has become a common household item in Bangladesh with a continuous rise in use among middle income groups in the past decade,” Khan said.

sajjad@thedailystar.net