Jinghua Ceramics and Uzbekistan: the new Chinese frontier Spain is ignoring again
Tile Wars · markets · · TileWars
Chinese giant Jinghua Ceramics will build a 32-hectare complex in the Kokand Special Economic Zone with capacity for 23 million sqm per year, while the Spanish sector repeats the mistake of underestimating Chinese peripheral tile expansion.
The map of ceramic geopolitics is shifting again, and the Spanish industry runs the risk of noticing only when it is too late. Today, our sector ignores the silent but massive expansion of Chinese tile production across Africa and Asia, repeating the same diagnostic mistake it made a decade ago, when it turned its back on Indian growth and dismissed that production as a purely local threat.
The latest major move has taken place in Uzbekistan. Chinese company Jinghua Ceramics has announced the construction of a 32-hectare industrial complex in the Kokand Special Economic Zone, with an initial capacity of 23 million square meters per year and a supply scheme based on around 90% local raw materials. The project also enjoys aggressive tax exemptions, cheap land, subsidized energy and labor costs no European cluster can match.
This is not an isolated case. It is the continuation of a carefully designed strategy: relocating capacity to countries with low tariff barriers, privileged geographic positions and direct access to markets the Chinese industry can no longer competitively serve from home due to European, Mexican, American or Brazilian duties. Uzbekistan offers exactly that: an export platform towards Central Asia, Russia, Turkey and the corridor connecting with the European Union through the Caucasus.
The reading for Castellon is uncomfortable. A decade ago, when Morbi (India) was multiplying kilns, the dominant narrative in Spain was that this was low-end product with poor finishing and no export traction. Today, India is the world's leading tile producer, has displaced European manufacturers in key Middle East and African markets, and competes with Spanish tile in formats, finishes and design. The story repeats itself, but this time with Chinese capital, engineering and machinery landing in countries that until recently were not even on the strategic maps of Spanish companies.
Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers are acquiring European know-how through the purchase of Italian and Spanish technology, replicating it in brand-new, fully digitalized plants in jurisdictions where energy costs have not skyrocketed due to the green transition, where there is no emissions trading scheme equivalent to the European ETS, and where environmental regulation does not penalize intensive production.
The underlying problem is not the existence of competition, but the passivity with which the Spanish sector watches the move. Commercial strategy remains anchored in defending share in Europe and the United States, with a quality and design narrative that is no longer enough once the price gap per square meter becomes structural. While Castellon debates CO2 taxes, insufficient aid and regulatory costs, China builds turnkey plants in Uzbekistan, Egypt, Algeria, Indonesia or Vietnam, and from there supplies the same clients that historically bought Spanish tile.
The global periphery is being equipped with cutting-edge technology and unbeatable operating costs under the seal of the Asian giant. Global industry trends do not wait for traditional clusters to react, and stumbling twice on the same stone within just one decade may prove too costly.