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Global forces have led to a slight slowdown in Bangladesh’s economic expansion, which was expected to be eight per cent this year. Despite this, the housing and construction sectors managed to remain almost stable at over 10%, which has led sanitaryware manufacturers to expect better results in the coming year.

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is largely responsible for the economic issues that have plagued Bangladesh since 2022, when the country was just about recovering from COVID-19. Basic commodities, including industrial raw materials and energy, have skyrocketed in prices due to the war, resulting in high inflation, reduced foreign currency reserves, and a sharp devaluation of the Bangladeshi currency Taka by about 30%, leading to higher production costs for sanitaryware, which negatively impacted consumers.

According to industry sources, Bangladesh’s mid to long-term prospects appear bright despite the present challenges, as a result of its several intrinsic strengths, such as rising disposable income, rapid improvement of low per capita ceramic consumption, the rapid development of urbanisation, and addressing huge housing shortages. It is also noteworthy that the country’s GDP has grown by an average of seven per cent per year, which has stimulated a record level of sanitaryware consumption and improved living conditions. Also, over the past three decades, Bangladesh has seen an increase in demand for sanitaryware due to improvements in hygiene. Jahir Ahmed believes that all these factors are positive for the country’s economy in general and the sanitaryware industry in particular.

Iranian ceramic tile manufacture has oscillated between periods of optimism and pessimism over the past two decades, even though it has a significant potential for dominating the Middle East ceramic tile market. The country scores highly on ceramic tile production factors. There is also a significant supply of raw materials for ceramic tile manufacture in the area, which means almost all of the raw materials are sourced locally with only a small amount imported from Europe. Iran is also one of the region’s most cost-competitive ceramic tile producers due to its abundant supply of crude oil and natural gas. In light of these winning factors, Yogender Singh Malik firmly believes that Iran should not be anywhere other than at the top of the table, particularly in terms of ceramic tile production.

Vietnam occupies a position among the top 10 countries for ceramic production in terms of its current ceramic tile production, sanitaryware production, as well as tableware production. It has become one of Asia’s most dynamic economies in recent years as a result of its increasing stability and impressive growth. In Vietnam, ceramic tile production and sales have now returned to normal levels following the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. Jahir Ahmed says that despite a great year for the country’s manufacturers, they remain cautious about export markets, which is a wise approach, given recent developments in the country and abroad.