X Ceramics to go for high-end tiles

The demand for premium quality tiles has grown by around 10 per cent annually for the past decade thanks to a section of affluent customers who look for the finest products to decorate their homes and offices.

Encouraged by the rising demand, a number of local firms are lining up to enter the industry.

For example, X Ceramics is set to make a fresh investment of Tk 244 crore to establish a high-end tile production facility to cater to the demand among upscale product seekers.

"Our target is to catch the premium segment of customers who want to use imported or high quality tiles," said Md Mamunur Rashid, deputy managing director of the company.

Other than rapidly growing domestic demand, high-end tiles have good export potential as well, he added.

With 4,000 employees, X Ceramics is a market leader in the tiles industry with a combined production capacity of 30,000 square metres per day at two manufacturing units.

The company's annual turnover is about Tk 350 crore.

X Ceramics has already placed its investment plan to the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, seeking 30 acres of land at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar in Chattogram for the new unit.

Other than X Ceramics, Mir Ceramic, Sheltech, Excellent Ceramic, DBL Ceramic, Akij and CBC all manufacture high-end ceramic items to meet more than 80 per cent of the local demand, which stands at nearly Tk 700 crore annually. The rest is met through imports, according to market players. X Ceramics aims to produce 1.34 crore square feet of both interior and exterior ceramic tiles at the new unit, Rashid added.

However, Ruslan Nasir, deputy managing of Mir Ceramic, said the demand for premium tiles is still low compared to the common variety.

"Still though, the future of the high-end tiles segment in Bangladesh is bright," he added.

Abu Jubaid Mohammad Rassel, senior marketing manager at Akij Ceramics, said the demand for high-end tiles was previously fulfilled through imports but local manufacturers now cater to about 84 per cent of the total requirement.

He believes the demand for high-end tiles will increase in line with the country's economic development.    

Bangladesh is now almost self-sufficient in meeting the demand for ceramic products, which is quite a turn of events from the 1990s.

Just one-and-a-half decades ago, the sector was import dependent but is now self-dependent as local manufacturers supply reliable products, Rassel added.

According to the Bangladesh Ceramic Manufacturers and Exporters Association, there are currently about 30 tiles manufacturers in the country that produce around 20.64 crore square metres of tiles every year with consumption amounting to Tk 4,600 crore in 2019-20.

Investment in the tiles sector of the ceramics industry reached Tk 5,235 crore, generating a total of 19,883 employment opportunities.