Since 2019, China's construction ceramics industry has set off a round of "slate fever", and major companies have invested in new/renovated slate production lines. In less than two years, there have been more than 150 slate production lines in major production areas across the country, and nearly 100 slate production lines can produce 1200×2400mm and above specifications.
Picture: SACMI, Italy
Among these companies that have invested heavily in slate production lines, many have purchased Italy's SACMI Continua+ continuous pressing and molding equipment. These companies all hope to cross-border and rob the large home furnishing field with their increasingly flexible production capabilities. , flexing its muscles in home customization, finished furniture and other channels.
However, things did not go as smoothly as expected. Not to mention that slate cannot replace materials such as stone, wood, and glass in a short period of time. The amount of slate used in the custom home + finished furniture market is far from enough to absorb the huge production capacity of enterprises. At the end of the second quarter of this year, news about slow-selling rock slabs and liquidated stocks began to spread in the industry.
Picture: Furniture Slate
Some people say that this is the "fever reduction" of the big cross-border home furnishings made of slate. Because for ceramic construction companies, their main sales channel is dealers, and dealers who sell ceramic tiles are currently limited to the application of slate on walls and floors, so the slate market still needs to return to the Home decoration wall and floor systems.
It can be said that almost every company that produces slates will create multiple series of products for background walls. In addition, this year, brands such as Oceano, Mona Lisa, and Marco Polo also target kitchen and bathroom space walls. A number of new rock slab products have been launched. In August, Dongpeng took the lead in the industry to announce the popularization strategy of wall slate, and also launched ecological solutions for wall slate and wall decoration. In September, Samit launched the "Love Decoration Festival·48-hour Wall Quick Change Recruitment Plan" at the same time as launching new wall slate products.
Image source: Samit
Will wall decoration become a major direction for slate companies to expand their territory in the future? Zhong Taojun believes that analysis should be carried out from multiple aspects.
01
Dimensions Thickness
According to the cities visited by China Ceramics Network in its 2021 National Tile Market Survey, the slate products currently sold by terminal dealers are mainly used for background walls in home decoration, while most consumers are more interested in decorating background walls. People prefer to buy 800×2600㎜ slates, and a small number of owners of luxury houses and villas will choose 1200×2400㎜ slates.
Image source: Oceano
The "Residential Design Code" clearly states that the floor height of ordinary residential buildings should be 2.80m. Excluding the height of the ceiling, 2400-2800mm long rock slabs are undoubtedly the first choice for wall applications because they can reach the ceiling in one piece, reducing the sense of space fragmentation. In addition, the 800×2600㎜ rock slab is obviously more popular. Regardless of the cost, it is just big enough to fit into the elevator. The weight of each piece ranges from 60 to 100 kilograms, and it is easier to transport and pave.
Image source: Mona Lisa
In addition to size, thickness is also the key to wall rock slabs. The thickness of ordinary ceramic tiles and large ceramic slabs is about 10-12㎜. Even if you choose a thin paste process when installing it on the wall, it will still make people feel heavy. The thickness of most wall rock slabs is 5.6, 6, 9㎜, and even some Some people also choose to use ultra-thin rock slabs as wall decoration materials. Large-sized slabs are also used on the walls. Thin rock slabs have a relatively higher safety factor.
02
Application space
As we all know, the decorative materials for walls during decoration include latex paint, diatom mud, wallpaper, wall coverings, wall panels, ceramic tiles, etc. The areas that need to use ceramic tiles on the walls are mainly kitchens and bathrooms, and some living rooms also use ceramic tiles on the walls; the areas that need to use wainscoting are mainly the background walls of the living room, bedroom and study room.
Picture: New Pearl Slate
As for wall decoration, designer Shao Weiyan believes that current decoration has gradually begun to "de-stylize", that is, consumers have a stronger sense of autonomy than in the past, and everyone hopes to decorate something with their own style. space. So some are special orWall materials that are attractive can attract consumers' attention, and slate is a typical example.
Picture: RDR slate
In fact, different spaces have different requirements for the performance of decorative materials, but the core advantages of slate, which are waterproof, fire-resistant, damage-resistant, easy to clean, and pollution-free, are enough to instantly defeat other wall decorations. As for materials, in the field of wall decoration, slate can be called the "Taiwan Balm".
03
Decorative effect
Among the many decorative materials, textures from nature such as logs and marble can be said to be the most popular among consumers. Compared with natural marble, the texture of imitation stone slate is more controllable; compared with wood, imitation wood slate is waterproof, fireproof and easy to care for. This is also the main reason why slate has become a "dark horse" in the home furnishing circle and quickly become popular.
Picture source: Jin Yitao
In addition to imitating stone and wood grains, rock slabs can also be produced with a variety of finishing effects, such as brushed metal finishes, imitation fabric finishes, imitation micro-cement finishes, etc., and even imitation wallpapers and imitation paints Not a problem. Moreover, the product process research and development of rock slabs does not just stop at the stage of replicating the real ones. Companies also use dry granulation, fine carving, semi-thrown, digital glaze, crystal diamond glaze and other technologies to make the texture of rock slab products richer.
Source: Lingbiao Technology
At large-scale exhibitions such as Shenzhen Design Week, Xiamen Stone Exhibition, Guangzhou Construction Expo, Foshan Ceramics Expo, and Foshan Tanzhou Exhibition held this year, the new slate products launched by various brands are dazzling. Some of these rock slabs are engraved with the texture of precious stones, some sparkle under the light, and some are even cross-border co-branded with anime and famous paintings. It makes people wonder whether rock slabs can be customized like art murals. .
04
Construction technology
The construction of rock slab walls is actually similar to that of large ceramic slabs. However, due to differences in specifications, thickness, back texture, etc., the slabs will extend out of the wall.More construction methods are available, including wall thin wall + mixed wall wall construction, special base surface point hanging method wall construction, back bolt dry hanging method, keel back frame dry hanging method, composite board dry hanging method, etc. .
Take the Zinan private farm project jointly built by Tiemeister and KLAX Golden Slate as an example. The technologies used in the construction of this project include wet-pasting of ceramic slate walls (floors) and dry ceramic slates. French elastic pasting technology, ceramic rock plate safety hanging technology, etc. In the wall quick installation process of this project, Master Sticker specially used V-shaped stainless steel structural parts.
The wall installation of rock slabs requires more attention to auxiliary materials, components, professional tools and standardized processes. However, as the technology gradually matures, the construction period of the overall project will be further shortened. For example, Pengzhu's 800×2600mm slate wall is constructed with adhesive, and the construction process is relatively simple. The quick installation mode uses the dry hanging splicing of keels and the addition of metal strips to close the edges. It makes the installation of slate wall systems quick and easy while ensuring the effect.
05
Premium space
Continuing the previous topic, under the tide of consumption upgrading, the traditional "money and goods" model in the building ceramics industry is facing huge challenges. In the terminal first-line market, powerful dealers have taken the lead in launching "finished products" "Delivery" model, transforming from a material distributor to a home improvement service provider. So the question arises, can wall slate be sold as a separate material?
Obviously, only by continuously upgrading services can we find our own way in the industry competition. If wall slate is only sold as a material alone, then the market share will only become smaller and smaller in the "price shopping". Why do we talk about the premium space of wall slate separately here? In fact, far-sighted companies have already made plans and layouts in advance.
The Pengzhu mentioned above is actually a professional service brand launched by Dongpeng. On the basis of having already been involved in the complete bathroom decoration, the birth of Pengzhu is also a major move by Dongpeng to realize the "complete decoration". Now that the prefabricated concept is prevalent, companies have mastered the one-stop overall solution for decoration.This means that it has absolute advantages and voice in the material supply chain, channel side, consumer side, etc., and the wall system is a very critical part of it.
From this point of view, do you think wall slate will become the mainstream of the slate industry?
(Author: Hong Xiaochun)
