Vietnam – The Right Place to Import Pottery and Ceramics Goods
Ranked the 2nd nation amongst the top pottery and ceramics exporters (just behind China), Vietnam has had an ancient and long-term development history of making pottery and ceramics for ages. It is famous for its high quality, durability, and anti-crack materials, which extend the shelf life of the product.
Nowadays, these ceramics and pottery products are made in factories with advanced and modern technology. Vietnamese ceramics have got many eye-catching designs to meet the needs of customers. Appearing in over 50 international markets, Vietnamese ceramics and pottery products are exported and cost over $400 million dollars a year.
Moreover, through handicraft items, customers can recognize the skillfulness, and creativity of potters who make Vietnamese pottery become a deep folk art form.
In addition to the advantages such as high quality and diverse and eye-catching designs, Vietnamese ceramics have a lower labour cost and also logistic cost compared to China, especially for European companies, since the EVFT (European Union–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement), which help importer to reduce cost significantly.
Hence, if you are looking for Chinese alternative ceramic suppliers or just simply want to diversify your portfolio, Vietnamese is definitely the country that you need to add to your portfolio.
How and Where to Find Vietnamese Ceramics and Pottery Exporters?
There are two flexible methods to search for manufacturers of ceramics and pottery in Vietnam—finding them offline and online.
Offline Sources
In Vietnam, ceramic factories are often concentrated in a certain region and are often located near other markets.
Here are some major ceramic production regions where foreign importers can find ideal sources:
- Binh Duong province
- Leading producers
- Has nearly 400 independent pottery makers and exporters.
- 50 million USD of pottery is produced annually.
- Dong Nai province
- Its production cost is lower than that of Binh Duong
- High-developed area of ceramic and pottery industry
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Areas of many ceramics factories
- Has hundreds of pottery factories.
Online Sources
Potential producers of ceramics and pottery can also be found through these online channels:
- The Yellow Pages: The business dictionary with the most up-to-date, accurate information about businesses, and manufacturers in Vietnam. With more than 250,000 business information in more than 3,000 industries, you will have a chance to find the right supplier.
- Search engines: This is a basic, but still an effective way to find Vietnamese suppliers. Similar to many countries in the world, Google and Bing are the two most popular search engines in Vietnam.
- Alibaba: Although it is the main platform to find Chinese manufacturers, however, Alibaba is also the perfect place to find Vietnamese suppliers. The site offers an extensive selection of products from all over Asia, and it’s easy enough for even beginners who don’t speak any language other than English or Chinese (or perhaps not even that) can navigate through Aliexpress’ interface!
Several Difficulties that European Firms may Face when Importing Ceramics Products
Quality product control
The product quality control process is extremely important to ensure the right source of goods, and to make sure that there are no errors or damage to the products.
This control requires experienced and reliable assistance to keep the package safe.
However, foreign importers with few connections in Vietnam will have difficulty finding partners in this quality control process.
Packaging and Packing
The successful import of ceramics also depends on the packaging and packing of ceramics/ pottery products. Regardless of the steps of transportation, goods should not be damaged.
There are two available options for container packing for ceramics/ pottery goods:
- Hand load:
- For items weighing 16 kg or less
- Reducing waste out to the environment
- The most efficient unload
- Wooden pallets:
- Goods are stacked on a single pallet.
- Move quickly, easier to transport
- Less risk and labour
Shipping Ceramics/ Pottery from Vietnam to Europe
Transport Option
There is just one way to save money when transporting ceramics/ pottery, which is ocean freight.
It enables the company to fulfil their goods in a container or use the same space as other importers.
Export Packaging Materials
Goods that are stacked on top of each other or those that have sharp edges can be damaged if the packaging material is not high-quality.
Insurance
Returning damaged products to the manufacturers is almost impossible. Therefore, insurance plays an important role in importing ceramics/ pottery.
Language Barriers and Cultural Differences
In international trade, language is still one of the biggest problems, even though there are millions of online translators and tools.
Also, each nation has its own culture, so it may cause some inconvenience for companies in communication.
To sum up, finding the right supplier is more than just searching on the internet, but it’s also about trust and communication between two companies.
Due to the cultural difference, and geographic distance, the communication between the EU and Vietnam can sometimes be difficult and easy to misunderstand, which leads to time-consuming, and increases the risk.
Hence, with the support of sourcing agents like VIEC, it can make the process faster and easier. With our sourcing service, you will not worry about the quality of the products. You will be saving time and, with VIEC by your side and its 11 years of business experience between Vietnam and Europe, we can make sure to find you reliable pottery/ceramics to come to the port without any problems.
