After another challenging year, the U.S. ceramic tile market is closing out 2025 with continued contraction and uneven momentum across key segments. A mix of economic pressures—high mortgage rates, tariff volatility and wavering consumer confidence—continued to suppress demand in both new residential and residential remodel. At the same time, commercial work remained comparatively stable, offering one of the few bright spots in an otherwise difficult landscape.
According to Andrew Whitmire, trade data analyst at the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), U.S. ceramic tile consumption reached 1.58 billion square feet through July 2025, down 1% from the same period last year. At the current pace, the category is on track to finish 2025 at roughly 2.67 billion square feet, which would mark the industry’s lowest level since 2014.
Suppliers and industry associations told FCNews that while the category is strained, it is also adapting. Companies are reevaluating sourcing, investing in training, leaning on domestic production where possible and doubling down on design and technology to counter mounting pressure from alternatives.
Economics hit hardest
Industry leaders point to a combination of key economic forces holding tile back. Not least of which is the struggling housing market.
As Jim Parello, executive vice president at Emser Tile, put it, “First, tariffs and global supply chain costs continue to inflate the base cost of goods. Second, persistent economic uncertainty makes builders, remodelers and distributors more cautious in their purchasing and forecasting. And third, higher overall labor costs place additional pressure on project budgets. These factors combined create a more competitive environment.”
The housing market was the biggest factor in the ceramic tile market contraction in 2025. It failed to recover the momentum suppliers were expecting. New residential construction—both single-family and multifamily—slowed sharply, while residential remodel remained muted throughout the year. “Housing has definitely slowed as we worked our way through 2025,” said Scott Maslowski, executive vice president of SSC sales and operations at Dal-Tile. “Interest rates did not come down as anticipated until late this year. That was a little bit of a disappointment for all of us. A big part of the volume decrease was the slow down—primarily in new home construction, both single-family and multifamily. And then you also had residential remodel uncertainty; a lot of consumers stayed on the sidelines.”
Raj Shah, CEO of MSI, echoed those observations, saying: “The slowdown in both new residential and residential remodeling projects is having a significant impact on the ceramic tile market in 2025. High mortgage rates and home prices are impacting on the resale market, as well as incremental tariffs are creating uncertainty in the market.”
However, there remains some optimism. Emser’s Parello noted, “Despite these challenges, construction and renovation activity has remained steady, and we’re still seeing consistent demand for tile across residential and commercial segments. What has changed is customers are more cautious, timelines are either tighter or more fluid and suppliers, including contractors, are expected to help bridge rising costs to keep projects moving forward.”
Mortgage rate impact
Fred J. Reitz III, senior vice president of commercial, AHF Products, added that while elevated mortgage rates and economic caution continued to suppress renovation activity early in the year, some parts of the market began to stabilize. “Increased activity in the multifamily and residential builder sectors helped support a modest rebound in tile demand as the year progressed.”
MSI’s Shah added, “The recent Fed rate reductions should help reignite the house resale market sometime late 2026, while importers and distributors are diligently looking at alternate countries to source material and reduce current tariff impact.”
Tariff instability added another layer of difficulty throughout the year, creating pricing complexity and uncertainty across the supply chain.
These economic pressures were compounded by softer consumer sentiment, which further restrained remodel spending and contributed to the overall slowdown. Maslowski emphasized that the unsettled economic environment discouraged many homeowners from initiating projects. “There is really a lack of consumer confidence because of all of the uncertainty going on,” he noted.
Together, the weakened housing market, tariff volatility and wavering consumer confidence converged to make 2025 another difficult year for the ceramic tile market. Despite these pressures, suppliers emphasized that demand has not disappeared. However, the path forward will continue to depend heavily on how quickly the broader economic picture stabilizes.
Labor shortages
While economic pressures weighed on ceramic tile demand in 2025, the industry agreed that its most persistent challenge remains the shortage of qualified installers. Even in a down market, demand for skilled labor continues to outpace supply. That imbalance affects installation quality and the overall accessibility of the category.
Bart Bettiga, executive director, NTCA, noted that the labor shortage remains a systemic issue across both the flooring and broader construction industries.
“A bigger challenge [than training] lies in recruitment and marketing of the opportunities that are there for people looking for career opportunity and development,” he told FCNews. “I do believe we are seeing more interest in the trades, and this is creating some momentum. However, a bigger challenge to just recruitment is related to compensation. It takes several years to become competent in all aspects of tile installation. Frankly, we feel tile installers should be paid a much higher wage than a flooring installer because it is a more challenging trade. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, this is often not the case.”
According to TCNA’s Whitmire, manufacturing growth—especially in Tennessee—has increased the need for a larger and more skilled workforce. To support that demand, TCNA and NTCA have worked with state partners to build tile-installation training into regional education systems.
Suppliers’ Perspective
Suppliers, too, recognize the crisis for what it is. Maslowski described the issue as the leading non-economic barrier facing the industry. “Skilled labor continues to be our No. 1 challenge,” he said.
Dal-Tile has responded by dramatically expanding its training footprint. “We continue to aggressively work with the CTEF and the NTCA,” he explained. “We really have doubled down in regard to the number of trainings we’re doing in our facilities across the United States. We’re working with trade schools now to drive behavior and get people more interested.”
Although he said he sees progress, Maslowski said “it’s going to take a long time to get there” before installer availability matches demand.
As suppliers, associations, trade schools and state partners continue these layered efforts, signs of improvement are emerging. Maslowski noted that interest among potential installers is growing, even if the shortage remains significant.
Bettiga, too, said he is seeing “more interest in the trades,” creating momentum.
Still, the path toward a fully replenished workforce will be measured in years, not months.
Innovation wins out
While the broader ceramic tile market struggled under economic pressure, product performance varied by price point, origin and end-use segment. Suppliers told FCNews the divide between commodity tile and higher-end, design-forward or domestically produced products grew even sharper in 2025.
“Entry level commodity products are having the most significant negative impact, while upper-end, sophisticated product lines are faring better during this year,” MSI’s Shah noted.
Imported ceramic felt pressure from tariff instability and global cost fluctuations. By contrast, domestically produced porcelain outperformed expectations in several cases. AHF’s Reitz said U.S.-made offerings were among the company’s strongest performers: “Domestically produced porcelain tile performed very well in 2025,” he explained, citing collections like Rural Retreat and Sociale.
Design-forward and technically advanced products continued to shine, supported by consumer preference for elevated aesthetics and multifunctional performance. Suppliers pointed to sustained interest in larger formats, enhanced textures, 3D synchronized structures, antibacterial technologies and more realistic printing. These innovations helped premium porcelain maintain demand even as the broader category contracted.
Commercial and multifamily work also provided lift for higher-performing materials. Dal-Tile’s Maslowski said commercial flooring “performed the best in 2025” as the segment continued to follow the residential surge seen in the years immediately after COVID-19. He added that commercial stability helped offset softness in residential.
Overall, 2025 further solidified a divide in the market. Commodity ceramic struggled under economic constraints, cost sensitivity and competitive alternatives. Domestic porcelain, high-design tile and advanced products remained resilient. As suppliers refined strategies, upper-end products appeared positioned to outperform even in a slump.
The post Ceramic: State of the industry 2025 appeared first on Floor Covering News.
Ceramic: State of the industry 2025 Posted First on https://fcnews.net
No comments:
Post a Comment