Vietnamese tiles falling behind imported products

August 25, 2014 | 19:40

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Made-in-Vietnam tiles are in an uphill fight against imports, which have more diverse designs and price scales, consistent quality and better marketing.

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Most large real estate projects prefer imported products. Hoang Thi Le, head of the material procurement department of a leading real estate firm with two high-rise apartment buildings east of Hanoi said all the tiles used in the building were made in China.

Meanwhile, middle-income individual customers are also choosing imported tile for their homes. Most building material shops clustered around Cat Linh, Hoang Quoc Viet, Thanh Nhan and An Trach streets in Hanoi have mainly imported products on display. Many are even recommending that their customers buy imported tiles due to the variety of designs and prices available.

“The market looks good for Chinese-made tiles in Vietnam,” said Ly To Linh, director of 6-year-old Ho Chi Minh City-based Chinese tile distributor Van Dat. She added that the firm would continue to focus on distributing imported tiles in the foreseeable future.

Quach Huu Thuan, manager of Viglacera Corporation’s subsidiary Viglacera Tien Son (HNX:VIT), said 60 per cent of tile in Vietnam is imported, mostly from China and less so Thailand.

Domestic firms such as VIT, Prime, Dong Tam and Taicera have been working on developing new products and improving their quality, but most admit that it is difficult to compete with imported products. As a result, they have been boosting exports.

Statistics by Vietnam Building Ceramic Association shows that Vietnam’s annual tile output has surpassed 400 million square metres while domestic demand is only around 350 million.

By By The Hai

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