Ceramics makers swelling with stockpiles for turmoil

The ceramics industry, which has seen investments of about Tk 5,000 crore in the past decade, is now sitting on huge stockpiles for the nonstop blockade.

“Our warehouses are packed to the rafters,” said Shirajul Islam Mollah, managing director of China-Bangla Ceramic Industries.

Monno Ceramic Industries, a pioneer in the sector, has halted its production line for a lack of raw materials. “We are also holding back our expansion plans for the political uncertainty,” said Moynul Islam, vice-chairman of Monno Ceramic.

All 54 companies in the sector are more or less in the same boat: they have halted production for want of raw materials.

But it is the companies that entered the market in the past five years that are bearing the most brunt of the political stalemate, as they have to deal with the burden of bank loans on top of the operating expenses.

More than a dozen factories were set up in the last decade thanks to natural gas supply and cheap labour. Big conglomerates, such as RAK, Abul Khair and Akij groups have also forayed into the market.

Many companies were planning to double their production, riding on the growing domestic demand, said Islam, also the vice-president of Ceramic Tableware, Tiles & Sanitaryware Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Some of the companies discussed fresh financing for expansion with their banks, which is now on hold, he added.

DBL Group, a major apparel exporter, has also set up a ceramic factory, with a view to cater to both the local and foreign markets. The company is hoping to start production by March this year, said MA Jabbar, managing director of DBL Group.

Globally, the export market for ceramic products was worth more than $41.3 billion, of which Bangladesh has a share of only 0.97 percent with $47.5 million in exports in fiscal 2013-14.

Bangladesh had exported ceramics worth only $1 million in 1991, meaning exports registered an average annual growth of 18.3 percent in the last two decades.

The country's consumption of ceramics is still one of the lowest in the world, of just 0.2 square metres (sqm). The per capita consumption of ceramics is 3.6 sqm in Brazil, 2.6 sqm in China and 1.4 sqm in Malaysia.