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In just over 25 years, China's sanitaryware industry has grown more than 2,000% to 174.1m. pieces. Eileen Hao and Ian Wilson outline the country's main producers and examine growth challenges for the future
Sanitaryware denotes fitments in bathrooms such as washbasins, toilets, bidets and shower trays all associated with personal hygiene. These items form an essential part of a modern civilised standard of living. However, there are still some 2.5bn people in the world who do not have access to toilets and proper sanitation which to leads to poor hygiene and subsequent illness in many countries.
Almost all sanitaryware is made by slip casting and the major four components of what is known as vitreous china (VC) are quartz, feldspar, ball clay and kaolin. Their main function and problems that can be encountered with incorrect recipes are shown in Table 1 (see panel).
World sanitaryware production is dominated by vitreous china, but fine fireclay (FFC) is an increasingly important segment of the market. In FFC, the pre-fired or calcined clay is the single most important component and can account for over 40% of the body.
Within China there is chamotte production and American Standard have FCC output. French group Imerys produces a low-alumina sanitaryware chamotte provided by the AGS plant in south-west France. The chamotte remains inert in the FFC body as it is pre-fired at 2,500-2,900!F, acting as a skeleton that produces pieces with reduced deformation and shrinkage.
It is possible for FFC producers to ensure that the balance of chamotte, plastics and other components is correct and the total shrinkage can be as low as 4%.
Raw material suppliers
There are many suppliers of raw materials for sanitaryware and one of the leading companies is Imerys with ball clays and china clay (kaolin) from south-west England, UK and plastic clays, kaolin, chamotte and feldspar from Europe, Asia and North America. Sibelco is another important company which supplies the sanitaryware industry on a wordwide basis with clays, kaolin, feldspar, fluxes, silica and speciality ceramic minerals.
Goonvean Ltd, a privately owned company based in Cornwall, UK, has specialised in kaolin for the sanitaryware industry for over 30 years. A number of different grades are offered which include strong plastic clays and fast casting clays, such...