Yogi Malik, Asia Correspondent03.24.22
Asia has emerged as the production hub of ceramic manufacturing in the last two decades. The continent accounts for more than 70% of the global ceramic output (including ceramic tiles, sanitary ware and tableware).
Production surge in ceramic tiles and adaptation of digital printing has resulted in massive demand of inks in the ceramic industry. Ink World presents an overview of ceramic inks demand in Asian countries in this feature.
Overview of Ceramic Tile Production in Asian Countries
Asia has emerged as the dominant producer of ceramic tiles in the last decades, overtaking the established ceramic tile manufacturing hubs of Italy and Spain.
In 2020, Asia accounted for 12,110 million square meters of ceramic tiles out of the total global output of 17,005 million square meters of ceramic tiles. In percentage terms, the continent accounted for 71% of the global ceramic tile production.
China leads the ceramic tile output in the continent with an annual production of 8,362 million square meters of ceramic tiles in 2020. India, with an output of 1,298 million square meters, is the second largest producer, followed by Vietnam (554 million square meters), Iran (443 million square meters) and Indonesia (314 million square meters). These five countries are among the top ten global ceramic producing countries.
Demand of Ceramic Inks in Asian Countries
Evolution of the digital printing technology in the ceramic tile industry is considered one of the most important development in the ceramic industry by most of the industry stakeholders. The advent of digital decoration changed the face of the ceramic industry in less than 10 years.
For the ink industry, this transformation opened avenues for a vast and untapped market. Demand of ceramic inks started to skyrocket from 2007 onwards.
In the earlier years, the demand was confined to the markets of Italy and Spain, but as the Asian countries increasingly embraced the digital technology, demand of ceramic inks quickly increased on the Asian continent.
In last few years, the total cost of the digital decoration with the inks has become similar or even lower than the cost with traditional decoration. In addition to the cost benefits, the wide color range of inks available in the market, with pure and vivid ceramic colors, allows matching most of the ceramic tile production models, moving them to digital technology.
Digital printing has penetrated almost 70% of the wall tile market in Asian countries. In floor tiles, the technology has a penetration of close to 40% of the overall ceramic tile market on the continent.
The trend is expected to keep its northwards journey in the coming years. Digital printing is used by ceramic tile producers to print in short runs, reduce inventory cost, and effectively fulfil the changing requirements of the ceramic inks market. In addition, it also allows the ceramic tile producers to respond quickly to a rapid design changes as per market demand to cater to the consumer requirements.
Ceramic inks are carriers of ceramic fine particle metallic oxide pigments. These inks must have a physical consistency suitable for producing fine detail; this requires that they be suspended in a medium.
Depending on the application technique, these mediums can be thick and flow like a printing ink. They can have a gel consistency that holds itself in place after application. They can be made from nano-size particle stains that stay in suspension in a highly fluid medium. They can be water- or oil-based. Depending on the final product, these inks may need to dry quickly, slowly and may not need to dry at all before firing.
Major Producers of Inks for the Ceramic Tile Industry
In the first decade of the century, most of the ceramic ink producers were based in Italy and Spain, but during the last decade a number of producers have emerged in Asian countries, especially China.
Italian and Spanish ceramic ink producers have opened production bases or subsidiary companies in major ceramic tile producing countries on the continent. Currently, Esmalglass-Itaca (now renamed as Altadia Group), Torrecid, Coloorobbia, Zschimmer & Schwarz Ceramco, Xennia Technology, and EFI are the leading suppliers of inks for the global and Asian ceramic tile industry. Chinese ink producers for ceramic industry such as Guangdong Dowstone Tech, Sinocera Creta Tide and Huilong have emerged as strong competitors to Italian and Spanish producers.
In one of the most significant events in the ceramic tile ink industry, Ferro completed the sale of its Tile Coatings Systems business to Pigments Spain, S.L., a company in the Esmalglass-Itaca group, for $460 million in cash in February 2021. With annual sales of approximately $510 million for the 12 months ended September 30, 2019, Ferro’s Tile Coatings Business produces coatings for ceramic tiles business.
Esmalglass-Itaca group, based in Villarreal, Spain, is a manufacturer of colors and glazes for the ceramic sector. Esmalglass-Itaca produces and markets a wide variety of value added products used in manufacturing and tile decoration. It supplies ceramic manufacturers globally through manufacturing and mixing facilities, warehouses, and technical and design teams around the world.
With this acquisition, Esmalglass-Itaca, which also acquired Fritta in 2015, has become unchallenged world leader in the ceramic color and glaze sector with a turnover of around a billion euros. The Villarreal, Spain based group has 1,650 employees and around 20 production units in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, China and Thailand.
After the completion of acquisition of Ferro business, the merged entities have been renamed as Altadia Group. The newly-formed group is a giant in the sector with 32 production facilities in 19 countries, 19 distribution centres and aftersales services, approximately 3,600 employees. Altadia Group owns 11 brands: Esmalglass, Itaca, Fritta, Ferro TCB, Quimicer, Endeka Ceramics, Vetriceramici, SPC Color, Gardenia Quimica, Zircosil and Oximet.
Production surge in ceramic tiles and adaptation of digital printing has resulted in massive demand of inks in the ceramic industry. Ink World presents an overview of ceramic inks demand in Asian countries in this feature.
Overview of Ceramic Tile Production in Asian Countries
Asia has emerged as the dominant producer of ceramic tiles in the last decades, overtaking the established ceramic tile manufacturing hubs of Italy and Spain.
In 2020, Asia accounted for 12,110 million square meters of ceramic tiles out of the total global output of 17,005 million square meters of ceramic tiles. In percentage terms, the continent accounted for 71% of the global ceramic tile production.
China leads the ceramic tile output in the continent with an annual production of 8,362 million square meters of ceramic tiles in 2020. India, with an output of 1,298 million square meters, is the second largest producer, followed by Vietnam (554 million square meters), Iran (443 million square meters) and Indonesia (314 million square meters). These five countries are among the top ten global ceramic producing countries.
Demand of Ceramic Inks in Asian Countries
Evolution of the digital printing technology in the ceramic tile industry is considered one of the most important development in the ceramic industry by most of the industry stakeholders. The advent of digital decoration changed the face of the ceramic industry in less than 10 years.
For the ink industry, this transformation opened avenues for a vast and untapped market. Demand of ceramic inks started to skyrocket from 2007 onwards.
In the earlier years, the demand was confined to the markets of Italy and Spain, but as the Asian countries increasingly embraced the digital technology, demand of ceramic inks quickly increased on the Asian continent.
In last few years, the total cost of the digital decoration with the inks has become similar or even lower than the cost with traditional decoration. In addition to the cost benefits, the wide color range of inks available in the market, with pure and vivid ceramic colors, allows matching most of the ceramic tile production models, moving them to digital technology.
Digital printing has penetrated almost 70% of the wall tile market in Asian countries. In floor tiles, the technology has a penetration of close to 40% of the overall ceramic tile market on the continent.
The trend is expected to keep its northwards journey in the coming years. Digital printing is used by ceramic tile producers to print in short runs, reduce inventory cost, and effectively fulfil the changing requirements of the ceramic inks market. In addition, it also allows the ceramic tile producers to respond quickly to a rapid design changes as per market demand to cater to the consumer requirements.
Ceramic inks are carriers of ceramic fine particle metallic oxide pigments. These inks must have a physical consistency suitable for producing fine detail; this requires that they be suspended in a medium.
Depending on the application technique, these mediums can be thick and flow like a printing ink. They can have a gel consistency that holds itself in place after application. They can be made from nano-size particle stains that stay in suspension in a highly fluid medium. They can be water- or oil-based. Depending on the final product, these inks may need to dry quickly, slowly and may not need to dry at all before firing.
Major Producers of Inks for the Ceramic Tile Industry
In the first decade of the century, most of the ceramic ink producers were based in Italy and Spain, but during the last decade a number of producers have emerged in Asian countries, especially China.
Italian and Spanish ceramic ink producers have opened production bases or subsidiary companies in major ceramic tile producing countries on the continent. Currently, Esmalglass-Itaca (now renamed as Altadia Group), Torrecid, Coloorobbia, Zschimmer & Schwarz Ceramco, Xennia Technology, and EFI are the leading suppliers of inks for the global and Asian ceramic tile industry. Chinese ink producers for ceramic industry such as Guangdong Dowstone Tech, Sinocera Creta Tide and Huilong have emerged as strong competitors to Italian and Spanish producers.
In one of the most significant events in the ceramic tile ink industry, Ferro completed the sale of its Tile Coatings Systems business to Pigments Spain, S.L., a company in the Esmalglass-Itaca group, for $460 million in cash in February 2021. With annual sales of approximately $510 million for the 12 months ended September 30, 2019, Ferro’s Tile Coatings Business produces coatings for ceramic tiles business.
Esmalglass-Itaca group, based in Villarreal, Spain, is a manufacturer of colors and glazes for the ceramic sector. Esmalglass-Itaca produces and markets a wide variety of value added products used in manufacturing and tile decoration. It supplies ceramic manufacturers globally through manufacturing and mixing facilities, warehouses, and technical and design teams around the world.
With this acquisition, Esmalglass-Itaca, which also acquired Fritta in 2015, has become unchallenged world leader in the ceramic color and glaze sector with a turnover of around a billion euros. The Villarreal, Spain based group has 1,650 employees and around 20 production units in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, China and Thailand.
After the completion of acquisition of Ferro business, the merged entities have been renamed as Altadia Group. The newly-formed group is a giant in the sector with 32 production facilities in 19 countries, 19 distribution centres and aftersales services, approximately 3,600 employees. Altadia Group owns 11 brands: Esmalglass, Itaca, Fritta, Ferro TCB, Quimicer, Endeka Ceramics, Vetriceramici, SPC Color, Gardenia Quimica, Zircosil and Oximet.
