Originating as rudimentary pottery and figurines produced using fired clay and other minerals more than 26,000 years ago, ceramics have come a long way to the modern forms and variations now available. Ceramic material refers to inorganic, non-metallic mineral materials that are brittle, hard, and formed using heat. Ceramics can withstand very high heat and chemical erosion, among other characteristics. There are a wide range of ceramic materials that are processed to have different properties which are suited to various applications, from everyday products to highly technical material solutions. The
is forecast to grow to nearly 360 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.
Ceramic tiles: an everyday application of ceramics
Ceramic tiles are one of the largest end-use categories of ceramics, with different forms suited to different applications such as flooring, roofing tiles, wall tiles, and mosaics. The
total global ceramic tile production amounted to over 16.7 billion square meters in 2022. Asia is by far the
world's largest ceramic tile producing region, with China alone accounting for nearly 44 percent of global production in 2022. On the consumption side, China (and Asia in a macro-regional comparison) was also the
leading ceramic tile consuming nation in the world as of 2022.
Ceramics engineering and other uses of ceramics
Aside from ceramic tiles, the range of products and applications using ceramics is vast. Zirconium dioxide ceramic knives stay sharp much longer than metal knives, and ceramic dishes and pottery are durable and attractive, while porcelain is delicate and fine. Ceramic engineering and technical ceramics are where the ceramics industry goes from mundane to modern and high-tech. For instance, thermal ceramics are durable at temperatures of more than 2,000 degrees Celsius and are used by the transportation, petrochemical, and chemical industries, among others.
Glass ceramics, another prominent category of technical ceramics, are forecast to have a market value of over two billion U.S. dollars worldwide by 2029.
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