Ceramic Tiles From India: Is It Sound for Full Containers, and What Can Stop the Kilns?

On 19 April 2024 a group of nine American tile makers, calling themselves the Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile, asked Washington to put anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Indian tile. When the Commerce Department opened the case a month later, the estimated dumping margins in its notice ran from 328.14% to 489.36% (Federal Register, 16 May 2024 (opens in a new tab)). Numbers like that end a supplier relationship on sight. A year later Commerce published its answer. Both Indian exporters it examined had a dumping margin of 0.00%, so no anti-dumping order was issued at all. What survived was a subsidy duty of 3.06% to 3.45%, with 3.18% for everyone else (trade.gov, final determinations (opens in a new tab)).

A buyer who read the petition and walked away from India walked away from a 3% problem. That's the theme of this page. The risks you hear about in Indian tile are often not the ones that cost you, and the ones that do cost you, the fuel under the kilns, the weight of the container, the shade of the second lot, are rarely in the headlines. We take them in the order they bite. The town itself, and what happened when its gas ran short in 2026, is on the Morbi cluster page. Tile types and specs are on the global tiles page, and the EU anti-dumping case on ceramics and glass. Our shipment records are US records, and we publish no prices.

1. It's One Town

Morbi and neighbouring Wankaner in Gujarat are the tile cluster. Our US count puts 63.3% of named Indian tile shipments at Morbi addresses. Thangadh, a short drive away, is part of the same belt, but a Bureau of Energy Efficiency cluster page says its older tile units have mostly closed and it now makes sanitaryware and refractories, so ask what a Thangadh plant actually fires. Himmatnagar is the other tile area suppliers name, and we found only trade listings for it, no official count.

So whichever logo is on the carton, one town's fuel, rules and roads set most of your risk. A merchant exporter who buys from several Morbi plants can spread your order across kilns, which is a real service and a normal model. Ask who fires the tile and who answers for it (manufacturer or trading company).

2. The Fuel Under The Kiln

Morbi's kilns burn piped natural gas or propane. In March 2026, when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz stopped, propane plants shut first and most of the cluster went dark for about six weeks. The Morbi page tells that story, so here is only what it means for your order.

• Ask which fuel the kiln uses, and what happened to the supplier's deliveries between March and May 2026.
• Put a force majeure clause in the contract that says what a shutdown does to price, lot and delivery date.
• Don't launch a range on one plant. A second approved source is realistic in a town with hundreds.

The fuel is also a compliance question. Morbi is on gas at all because the National Green Tribunal and the courts moved against coal gasifiers, after which about 450 units shut to convert (India Environment Portal (opens in a new tab)). A plant that saves on fuel by breaking the rules can be closed overnight. Ask for its current pollution board consent and keep a copy.

3. The Weight Sum

Tile fills a container by weight long before it fills it by volume, so the working question is square metres per container. Don't take "we load 1,500 sq m" on trust. Ask for three numbers and do the sum.

1. The net weight of one carton of your tile at your thickness.
2. The square metres in that carton.
3. The cargo weight the shipping line will accept, after pallets and packing.

Divide the allowed weight by the carton weight to get cartons, then multiply by square metres per carton. A thicker or larger tile gives fewer square metres at the same weight, which is why two quotes for "a 20-foot container of tiles" can differ by a third in area.

The line has a say too. In July 2026 Maersk announced a heavy-load surcharge on 20-foot containers above 22 tonnes from North West India to Europe, the Mediterranean and Israel, through Mundra, Pipavav, Nhava Sheva and Hazira (Maersk, 17 July 2026 (opens in a new tab)). That's one carrier on one set of lanes, so ask your forwarder what applies to your booking. Mundra is about 117 km from Morbi in a straight line. Small buyers should expect to share a container, which LCL versus FCL weighs up, and the Incoterm decides who carries a surcharge.

4. Shade, Calibre And The Second Lot

One kiln run is one lot. Tile fired on another day, or from another batch of body or glaze, can differ in shade and a little in size. The trade prints a shade code and a calibre code on each box, and a floor laid from two lots shows the join.

Here's why the fuel matters to this. If a kiln stops partway through your order, the balance gets fired later as a new lot. That's our reading of how production works, not something we've seen documented for Morbi, so test it with your supplier. Write into the order that each design is fired in one run, that each container carries one lot per design with the codes on every carton, and that you approve a pre-shipment sample from the production lot, not the showroom board.

For breakage, write an allowance into the order, agree how a claim is photographed at your end, and ask for photos of the loaded container before it's sealed. Method is on quality control in India and AQL sampling.

5. Border By Border

Tile has many tariff lines, split by water absorption, size and glaze. We read these on 5 October 2026, so check your own line with your customs broker, starting from HS codes.

The Gulf is the one that catches people. A UAE importer counting on the CEPA zero can still meet an anti-dumping duty outside that deal (Argaam via antidumping.vn, May 2026 (opens in a new tab)). The UAE page has the CEPA proof and routing. The US stacking order is on India to the US and the EU position on India to the EU.

6. Australia's Standards

With no duty under ECTA, Australia's test is the building code. Ask for test reports against the current Australian ceramic tile standard, AS 13006, with the AS 4459 test methods, a slip-resistance classification to AS 4586 for floor tiles, and check fixing against AS 3958.1. We couldn't read the standards themselves, so confirm each edition with your lab.

Questions Buyers Ask

Back To The Petition

Three hundred percent on the way in, zero on the way out. The Indian tile case is a good lesson in reading to the end. So read your supplier the same way. Ask what fuels the kiln, how many square metres really fit in the box, and whether your second container will match your first. Those answers decide your margin far more than a trade case did. Other products are in the India product guides.