Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia, India (the world's second largest ceramic tile producer) has attracted much attention, and reports on the development of India's ceramic industry have never stopped. As of November 12, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in India has reached 8,684,039, and 48,285 new cases were added on November 11. If the epidemic cannot be effectively controlled, it will only be a matter of time before the number of confirmed cases in India exceeds 10 million.
Since the outbreak, India’s leading ceramics companies have rarely spoken out. However, Ashok Kajaria, chairman of Kajaria Ceramics (the largest ceramic tile manufacturer in India), recently accepted an interview with "Ceramic World Review". According to it, due to the sudden outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, Kajaria Ceramics' performance dropped sharply in March 2020, resulting in a 5% year-on-year decrease in performance in the first quarter.
Affected by the epidemic
In April and May, the performance of India’s largest ceramic company “returned to zero”
As the largest ceramic tile manufacturer in India, Kajaria Ceramics has 8 ceramic tile manufacturing plants in India. In the first quarter of 2020, Kajaria sold 78 million square meters of ceramic tiles, of which polished tiles accounted for 31%, while glazed tiles also accounted for 31%, with revenue of US$373 million (approximately RMB 2.477 billion), a year-on-year decrease 5%. According to analysis, the biggest reason for the decline in performance is the sudden outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, which caused a sharp drop in performance in March 2020.
"How did you deal with this huge challenge?" "Ceramic World Review" asked this question to Ashok Kajaria. In this regard, Ashok Kajaria said, "We have gone through a long and strict lockdown period, and everything has come to a standstill except essential services and the healthcare industry." Therefore, from a business perspective, in April and May 2020 Most of the time it was a "total failure".
In early June, the Morbi government of India began the first phase of "unlocking", and Kajaria started some production operations at its ceramics factory in Rajasthan. "During the lockdown, we maintained close contact with our dealers, regularly assessed the latest developments and developed response plans to adapt to the new normal."
Kajaria resumed normal production and operations after implementing all necessary procedures to ensure continued safety-first operations. According to reports, the Kajaria factory is operating at almost full capacity and dealers are also operating normally.. Due to long-term accumulation, Kajaria has sufficient liquidity to meet the needs of continued operations.
The epidemic has a huge impact
The government has taken a number of measures to tide over the crisis
The epidemic has had a huge impact on the global economy. So how much impact will the epidemic have on India?
"Ordinary Indians are taking 'risks' to push the Indian economy in full force; India's backbone, the rural economy, continues to thrive and therefore India does not suffer from any food shortage during the pandemic." Ashok Kajaria said, Logically, consumption in small towns has been rising, business activity is resuming, the service sector is running into overdrive, and urban India residents are taking to the streets.
"At present, Indian residents have accepted this epidemic just like other health diseases." Ashok Kajaria said frankly. Although India's GDP growth has shrunk due to the epidemic, Ashok Kajaria believes that India's economic recovery is just around the corner. Local governments are using financial support and policy-driven measures to boost the economy. Among them, the Morbi government announced a US$266 million (approximately RMB 1.766 billion) rescue plan, accounting for about 10% of India's GDP, aimed at providing vulnerable groups and those hardest hit by the epidemic blockade. Safety net.
In addition, in order to ease the pressure on Indian companies, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also announced a major monetary easing plan, including cutting the repo rate by about 115 basis points and suspending loan repayments.
Indian ceramic tile exports surged by 31% in 2019
The year-on-year decline in performance in 2020 has become a fact
Ashok Kajaria analysis pointed out that in recent years, the development of the Indian real estate industry has not been very prosperous, and the economic growth rate has slowed down in 2019, and the per capita disposable income has also decreased, which has greatly affected Indian domestic consumers. The demand for ceramic tiles has promoted the development of local ceramic tile exports. Especially for export-oriented enterprises, the development environment is very favorable.
In the second half of 2019, Indian ceramic tile and ceramic manufacturers began to make a big move into the global ceramic tile market. According to analysis, this is largely due to the fact that the United States has imposed import tariffs on ceramic tiles exported from China and other anti-dumping measures against China.
According to the latest statistics from the "World Tile Production and Consumption Report", India's ceramic tile export volume in 2019 was 360 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 86 million square meters, achieving a 31% growth.
In 2020, the new coronavirus epidemic will haveThe impact of the world's largest ceramic tile importing countries such as China, Italy and Spain is profound. Ashok Kajaria believes that under this background, the momentum of India's ceramic exports will further increase.
But it is worth mentioning that since June 2020, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has imposed anti-dumping duties on ceramic tiles imported from India. So far, its impact on Indian ceramic tile exports to the local market has been limited.
As of November 12, a total of 8,684,039 cases have been diagnosed in India, and epidemic prevention and control is relatively severe. "The external environment is still full of uncertainty and extremely challenging. We are paying close attention to the development of the epidemic and making corresponding adjustments according to the situation. Although we have accepted the fact that the annual performance in 2020 will be slightly lower than that in 2019, we will still do our best to Go ahead and strive for the top,” said Ashok Kajaria.
(The article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
