Ceramic Tiles: A Buyer's Glossary for the Price List

Updated: 5 Oct 2026

The trade association for Morbi, the Indian town at the centre of the country's tile industry, describes what its members make in one line. Wall, floor, vitrified, PGVT, double-charge and multi-colour tiles, in sizes from 20×30 cm to 120×180 cm (Morbi Ceramic Manufacturers Association (opens in a new tab), undated page). To a tile maker that's a complete product range. To a buyer meeting it for the first time it reads like a menu in a language you half speak.

That gap is where tile orders go wrong. The words on the price list describe how the tile was made. What your customer cares about is how it behaves on the floor, and those are numbers the price list doesn't show. This page translates the words, then turns them into a spec and a customs line. It works for any sourcing country, with India as the example because that's where our data is. The Indian view (Morbi, duty by border) is on ceramic tiles from India, and the installer's side of the story is on ceramics and glassware.

SourcingFrom Intelligence

Customs sorts tiles by water absorption, not by name. The tile headings split at 0.5% and 10% water absorption by weight, and the US then charges 8.5% on most glazed tiles and 10% on unglazed ones in the same band. (USITC HTS 6907.21 and 6907.22, read 5 Oct 2026)
Half the Indian tile shipments name no shipper, and many named ones are forwarders. 52.3% of India's US tile shipments carry no shipper name, and 18.6% of the named sample are forwarders or logistics firms. Tiles often reach a buyer through a consolidator. (Our count of US bill-of-lading data, HS 6907, 2015 to Sep 2026 · Verified counts)
The UK rate is the same across the low-absorption bands. A tile at or under 0.5% absorption and one between 0.5% and 10% both pay 4% third-country duty in the UK, and 0% from India under the UK-India agreement with proof of origin. (UK tariff, 6907210000 and 6907220000, read 5 Oct 2026)

What we don't know yet

Standards-body definitions of the Indian trade names. We give the trade meaning and tell you which measured values to ask for instead.

The Words On The Price List

Wall tile. A tile made to go on walls, often more porous than a floor tile. Don't put it on a floor because it looks the same. Ask for its water absorption and breaking strength, and the maker will tell you where it belongs.

Floor tile. A tile made for foot traffic. On a price list it can mean several things, from a basic ceramic body to a vitrified one. Ask for the surface wear rating and, for any floor that gets wet, the slip resistance.

Vitrified. The trade's word for a dense tile fired until its body absorbs very little water. It's a description of the body, so ask for the measured water absorption from a test report and use that number in your spec and on the invoice. It's the number customs uses (our first point).

GVT and PGVT. Glazed vitrified tile, and polished glazed vitrified tile. A dense body with a printed glaze on top, and in PGVT a glossy polished face. Ask for the glaze wear rating and how the polish holds up to scratching, because a high-gloss floor in a busy entrance is a returns risk.

Double charge. A tile pressed with two layers of coloured material, so the pattern runs some depth into the tile instead of sitting only on the surface. Ask how deep the colour layer is, because that's what you're paying for.

Multi-colour. Usually a printed or multi-layer design. Ask for the full set of faces in the design, because a printed design can vary from tile to tile on purpose, and your installer needs to know.

Size. The 20×30 to 120×180 cm range is the association's own. Big formats need flat floors, special handling and skilled installers. A large slab that arrives slightly bowed is very hard to lay flat, so ask for the warpage tolerance before you order big sizes.

The Words That Aren't On The Price List

These are the numbers your customer will feel, and the ones to write into your spec.

Calibre. The actual size of the tile, which varies slightly from batch to batch. Each calibre gets a code. Tiles from different calibres in one room don't line up.

Shade. The colour batch. Tiles from different firings can differ in tone even when they're the same design. Each shade gets a code too.

Rectified. Edges ground square after firing, so tiles can be laid with narrow joints. Rectified tiles are more exact, and they still need a joint. How wide is a question for your installer, and the gap between Indian and US practice is told on ceramics and glassware.

Thickness and warpage. Thickness in millimetres and the maximum bow or twist, as tolerances. These decide how hard the tile is to lay.

Water absorption. As a measured percentage, from a test report on your batch.

Slip resistance. For floors, the rating your market uses. Test methods differ between countries, so name the method your customer asks for, and check it with your installer or your lab rather than accepting a number with no method next to it.

Packing. Square metres per carton, cartons per pallet and the pallet weight. Tiles are heavy, so a container fills up by weight long before it's full by volume. Plan the order in containers, and ask the maker for the loading plan.

The Spec In One Paragraph

Put it together like this, and adapt it to your range. Design and finish (with the maker's trade name), size and thickness with tolerances, measured water absorption, warpage limit, surface wear rating, slip resistance with its test method, one shade and one calibre per SKU per shipment with the codes printed on every carton, rectified or not, and the packing and loading plan. Ask which product standard the maker tests to (ISO 13006 is the international one) and for a test report from the batch you're buying, not from a catalogue. Turn it into a request with the RFQ template, and when samples arrive, lay several side by side under daylight and check them with the sample evaluation checklist.

How Tiles Are Classified

Ceramic flags and wall and floor tiles are heading 6907, and the first split is water absorption by weight.

6907.21 for tiles at or under 0.5%.
6907.22 for tiles over 0.5% and up to 10%.
6907.23 for tiles over 10%.

Mosaic tiles and finishing pieces such as skirting and trims have their own subheadings. Inside each band the US splits glazed from unglazed, and very small tiles from the rest (USITC (opens in a new tab)). That's why "vitrified" on a price list isn't enough for an invoice. Customs wants the measured absorption, and the glaze.

Rates beyond the tariff line matter more for tiles than for most products. The EU charges anti-dumping duty on Indian tiles at a rate set per exporting company, and Indian tiles lost their EU GSP preference for 2026 to 2028. Both are explained on ceramics and glassware. Ask your customs broker which rate applies to your supplier's exact company name before you compare quotes. The method for finding your own line is on finding your HS code.

How Tiles Ship

Tiles usually ship as full containers, so the delivery term is a real cost decision. Whether you take the goods at the maker's door, at the port or delivered to you changes who handles the heavy, breakable part of the journey. FCA and the Incoterms overview explain the choice. If your order won't fill a container, you'll usually buy through a consolidator who mixes loads, which our second intelligence point suggests is common. That's a normal model. Ask who made the tiles, and who answers for shade and calibre if a pallet is wrong.

Where Tiles Are Made

Spain, Italy, China and India are all large tile makers, and each sits at its own place in the market. India's production is concentrated in Morbi in Gujarat, which is on the government's export-town list for ceramic tiles and sanitaryware. What Morbi makes, what each border charges on Indian tiles and how they reach your port is on ceramic tiles from India.

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Back To The Price List

That one line from the Morbi association isn't vague. It's precise in the maker's language. Once you can read it, and ask for the numbers that sit behind each word, the price list stops being a menu you half understand and becomes a set of choices you can make on purpose.