JAGARAN CHAKMA

Sales of ceramics items have dropped by up to 20 per cent in Bangladesh as consumers cut back on their non-essential expenditures and the real estate sector faces a slowdown amid economic uncertainty and higher inflationary pressures, industry people said.

The prices of ceramic items have gone up owing to several factors such as the spike in raw material prices, the US dollar rate, transportation costs, and utility bills.

Manufacturers and traders say the cost of production in the ceramics sector has surged by 20 per cent to 30 per cent in the past eight months.

“The sales of ceramic products such as sanitary and tiles have gone down by around 20 per cent in the last six months owing to economic uncertainty and inflationary pressure,” said Khourshed Alam, director for sales and marketing at Akij Ceramics Limited.

“The price of ceramic items has increased 7 to 8 per cent during the same period. This has also affected the sales.”

According to him, the production cost increased by 15 per cent to 20 per cent because of the tariff hikes of gas and power and the dollar price.

The taka has lost its value by about 15 per cent so far in the current financial year and about 25 per cent in the last one year against the US dollar, owing to the shortages of the American greenback.

Shamim Ahsan, a retailer in the capital, said the sales of ceramic products have improved from the lows of the coronavirus pandemic but they have not returned to the pre-Covid levels yet.

According to Alam, sales fell in rural areas as people don’t feel interested in purchasing ceramic items due to higher consumer prices.

Inflation in Bangladesh climbed to 8.78 per cent in February, breaking a five-month declining trend, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. It stood at 8.80 per cent in the rural areas.