The rock slab market is becoming more and more "magical".
On the one hand, some slate furniture and processing platforms have withdrawn, and some have only been operating for 2 months; on the other hand, the market traffic brought by large slate slabs is almost crazy-some manufacturers have already placed 3 OEM orders. Months later, a customer even placed a one-time order of 500,000 cubic meters.
The market is ups and downs. A group of slate home furnishing platforms and processing plants that have found their position have grown rapidly, quickly found their own "segmented" markets, and become stars and benchmarks in the industry; "Hot", but did not have time to find the right direction, and finally chose to quit.
Over 10 slate home furnishing and processing platforms have canceled their registration in the past six months
Some have only been operating for 2 months
The fire of slate is getting stronger and stronger, but it also makes many people who join the game become "cannon fodder".
In 2020, Lin Hui (pseudonym) took advantage of the good momentum and invested 4 million to invest in a rock slab processing factory. "We caught up with a good era, but we didn't catch up with a good opportunity." After only a few months of operation, Lin Hui withdrew from the processing plant alone. He made no money and lost the money he invested. The equipment was lost, and the equipment became someone else's, almost losing everything.
Like Lin Hui, in the past two years, many professional managers have quickly entered the industry by investing in processing plants or establishing rock slab platforms.
Recently, "Ceramic Information" found in Tianyancha that from October 2020 to March 2021, in just half a year, about 13 slate home furnishing and processing platforms were cancelled. Most of these companies are located in Foshan, Guangdong, and were established between 2018 and 2020. The later ones were only established in early 2021. The cancellation time was from the second half of 2020 to the first half of 2021. Some companies even only operated for just 2 months.
"Most of the reasons for the withdrawal of these platforms and processing plants are because they have no positioning. They will follow wherever the wind blows, and they will go astray." One interviewee said that many processing plants The scope is too broad, there is no subdivision, everything can be done, but nothing can be done well.
Processing is more subdivided
There is a processing plant that processes 7,000 bathroom panels a day
In the view of many industry insiders, the withdrawal of some slate home furnishing platforms and processing plants is a natural process of survival of the fittest in the industry. Some people enter and some leave; some make a lot of money, and some lose all their money. .
After last year’s wave of “rock slab melee”, at this stage, rock slab home furnishing platforms and processing plants have begun to gradually become subdivided and specialized.
“In the past, a processing factory could do everything. Now some processing factories focus on making wash basins, some specialize in processing background walls, and some specialize in making furniture decorative panels.” Wang Wei, head of Foshan Yiyan Slab Factory ( (pseudonym) said, "There are some large-scale rock slab processing factories in Chaozhou. The largest one can process 7,000 slabs a day, and 10 waterjet cutting equipment are running at the same time. They only focus on the bathroom channel."
“Nowadays, some processing factories are transforming into customizing background walls or customizing furniture panels. On the one hand, processing factories are becoming more and more professional and focused. In addition, their customer channels will be more stable, and there will not be the phenomenon of ‘I don’t know how to shoot with a gun. Which's dilemma."
"Ceramic Information" searched on the Tmall platform and found that taking slate background walls as an example, the monthly sales of a single product in stores with high sales can reach nearly 2,000. A person in charge who specializes in the processing of rock slab background walls said, "The price of rock slab background walls is now as cheap as tens of yuan per square. The rock slabs are delivered, cut and edged according to the direction of the grain, and then spliced together. This surrounding There are several processing plants with a capacity of several thousand square meters, specializing in processing rock slab background walls.”
In Foshan, Guangdong, the vacancy rate of warehouses in Xiqiao, Zidong and other places around the Nanzhuang area was previously very high. The warehouse rent at the end of last year was about 13-15 yuan/square meter. At the beginning of this year, the rent of these warehouses rose to 20 It costs more than 1 yuan per square meter, and it is hard to find a "bank", which also proves the popularity of rock slabs from the side.
So the reason for the withdrawal of these slate furniture and processing factories is not that the slate is not easy to make, but that their own direction and positioning are not clear. ” said one interviewee.
“Crazy Big Rock Slab”
After 3 months of order placement, some manufacturers ran out of stock
Processing factories are blooming everywhere, and rock slab platform companies are getting bigger and bigger. In 2021, the circulation of rock slabs seems to be even more "crazy".
In fact, at the beginning of this year, with more and more slate furniture, further subdivision of processing platforms, large-size rock slabs, such as 800×2600mm, 1200×2400mm, 1200×2700mm, 1600×3600mm and other specifications have considerable sales volume.
“Some manufacturers’ OEM orders have been scheduled for three months, and some customers even placed a one-time order of 500,000 cubic meters.” A sales person in charge of a slate manufacturer said, "This year's large-size slates are mainly sold in volume, and some manufacturers have even sold out. Our current customers are shipping only a few trucks."
Some interviewees said that the 800×2600mm slate background wall is undoubtedly one of the most popular products this year. “The current circulation of slate in the furniture channel still has many details that need to be solved urgently. For example, there is no way to lock screws between the board and the metal. You can only use glue to stick it. However, over time, the board will deform and the slate will fall off easily. The corresponding hardware accessories have to be molded again, and a set of molds costs at least hundreds of thousands to develop. Therefore, the circulation of slate background walls has gradually increased because it is simple to process, easy to install, and easy for customers to accept. ”
The ceramics factory where Wang Wei (pseudonym) works began to clear the inventory of small slates in the second half of last year and transformed into larger slates. As of now, there are still some small slate products of different designs and colors that have not been processed. "This year we will mainly make 800×2600mm slate slabs. This size can also be used in small apartments and can be accessed by elevators. The current market acceptance is relatively high."
It is understood that some large OEMs, as well as those who originally made stone and special-priced bricks, are now making rock slabs. “Some operating platforms have a daily order volume of at least 2 million, and they only sell rock slabs. , the OEM volume is very scary, one of our 800×2600mm products has an OEM ordering 300,000 square meters at a time.”
At the same time, a person in charge of sales of special-price bricks also said that this year they will mainly promote products in two specifications: 800×2600mm and 1200×2400mm, which can quickly increase sales.
“Gan board is the production process of ceramic tiles and the application of stone.” The above-mentioned person in charge said, “Our volume this year is OK, but the price is not advantageous. Now making slate boards, many people make more money than the board. It’s the difference in shipping and shipping. “One piece of rock slab costs a few hundred yuan, but buying 4 pieces costs less than a thousand yuan.”
Many interviewees said that after the Ceramics Expo, the price of large-sized rock slabs may usher in a wave of "price bargaining". But there is no doubt that as more and more large slate production lines are started in the beginning of the year, the market flow brought by slate cannot be underestimated. At the same time, it is certain that it is no longer limited to traditional ceramic channels, and there is definitely room for development in other channels such as stone.
(The article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
