Terminology

• Biscuit firing: first firing, about 1,000°C (1,830°F)
• Glaze firing: about 1,300°C (2,370°F) or higher
• Hard-paste porcelain: fired up to 1,400°C (2,552°F)
• Soft-paste porcelain: lower firing temperature, generally less hard
• Bone china: English porcelain with bone ash

History and demand

Invention

• Shang dynasty proto-porcelain from 1600 to 1046 BCE; Eastern Han dynasty 25 to 220 CE
• Late 6th to early 10th century: whiteness and translucency achieved in China
• 1708: first hard, white European porcelain; 1710 Meissen factory established
• 1749: first English bone china patent

Sourcing

• Ceramic tile 2023: China made about 6,730 million m2, 42.2 percent of 15,937 million m2 world output, down 8 percent from 2022; India is second and became the world's second-largest exporter
• Spain made 394 million m2 in 2023, its lowest since at least 2015

Demand trend

• Italian porcelain tile production over 380 million m2 in 2006
• Global tile production fell 5.5 percent in 2023 (Ceramic World)

Composition and production

Raw materials

• Kaolinite (kaolin), feldspar, quartz, with other materials possible

Manufacturing process

• Fired at 1,200 to 1,400°C (2,200 to 2,600°F)

Uses in buildings

Building elements

• Ceramic and Porcelain Tile: floor, wall, and facade tile
• Porcelain logos and cladding, for example the 69 ft (21 m) porcelain logo on the Gulf Building, Houston, 1929

Pros and cons

Pros

• Hard, dense body at high firing temperature
• Glazed surfaces in many colors

Manufacturing and cost

Main manufacturers and suppliers

• Daltile

Trade association: Tile Council of North America.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Porcelain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcelain
• Wikimedia Commons: Ceramic tiles 02.jpg, photo by Houss 2020 (CC0), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ceramic_tiles_02.jpg
• Ceramic World: world production and consumption of ceramic tiles (2023), https://ceramicworldweb.com/en/economics-and-markets/world-production-and-consumption-ceramic-tiles-2023