New Changes in Nan'an Stone Materials

 

Xu Changcheng (left) is showcasing ultra-thin curved stone slabs.

 

 

Corner of Dongxing Stone Warehouse

 

 

Creative Yingliang Stone Company's "Warehouse Five"

 

 

Photo by Li Changqing in a corner of Shuitou Stone Park

 

 

The headquarters building of the enterprise located in Hailian Industrial Park, Shuitou Town, Nan'an

 

　　

In Nan'an, the hometown of stone, locals use the six words "buy the world, sell the world" to describe the stone industry.

As a place that produces almost no stone, the people of Nan'an, with their keen business acumen, have built a huge stone industry cluster from scratch over 30 years, becoming an undeniable presence on the world's stone industry map.

What is the current state of the Nan'an stone industry facing the complex domestic and international economic situation? Recently, a reporter from Fujian Daily went to Nan'an for research and interviews, and found that the stone industry in Nan'an has embarked on a new journey of transformation, radiating a new atmosphere of development. The industry as a whole is showing new changes in development such as green, innovative, chain extension, and clustering.

Green transformation of the entire industry

The development of the stone industry in Nan'an is mainly focused on manufacturing and processing, with both raw materials and the market being external. Due to the production of stone powder and crushed stone during the stone processing and manufacturing process, the Nan'an stone industry centered around Shuitou Town has become a major pollutant in the local area for a long time.

Due to the popularization and implementation of circular economy technology, the local stone industry in Nan'an has now achieved recycling and green development.

To promote new technologies for circular economy, the first step is to reduce the production of stone powder from the source.

Leiyang Stone Company, located in Shuitou Town, is a traditional stone processing and manufacturing enterprise. Since April last year, the company has been using a new type of stone production and processing technology - wire saw technology. The reporter saw in the production workshop that a wire saw machine was cutting a large stone block on site, which not only had low noise, but also produced less stone powder. After the processing water flowed out, it was still quite clean.

Compared with traditional cutting techniques, wire saw technology can increase the yield of stone square materials by 15% and reduce stone powder emissions by 80%, "said Zeng Huiteng, the relevant person in charge of the company, to reporters. Since 2018, Leiyang Company has partnered with multiple stone companies to establish Pinhe Technology Company in Xiamen, specializing in new wire saw technology. When Pinhe technicians observed the inspiration for silicon wafer cutting, they found that the hardness of silicon wafers is similar to marble, basalt, etc., but they can be cut very thin with wire saws, with fine seams and minimal waste. Why can't we learn from the silicon wafer cutting method? "They found inspiration from it and attempted to cut marble and other boards with a wire saw, succeeding in one fell swoop.

In order to accelerate the promotion of new technologies, in early June of this year, Nan'an City studied and passed the "Several Measures to Promote the Use of Stone Wire Saws in Nan'an City to Increase Production and Efficiency of Stone Enterprises", which aims to minimize the emission of stone powder in the stone industry.

Local downstream stone enterprises are also accelerating the reuse of stone powder.

Nan'an Yingsheng New Wall Materials Company, located in Guanqiao Town, is an environmentally friendly enterprise that deals with stone powder, corner materials, and mining waste materials. Entering the raw material storage warehouse in the company's factory area, the reporter saw that the stone powder transported from the stone enterprise was piled up into a huge hill. Excavators would occasionally shovel it into the mixer, mix coal gangue powder and soil in a certain proportion, and make hollow brick components. After firing, they formed hard and solid hollow bricks, which were supplied to major construction enterprises in Quanzhou.

When the company leader Wu Zhongxian was young and serving in the army in Nan'an, he saw stone gathering areas such as Guanqiao and Shuitou, where stone dust and pollution were rampant. He felt very uncomfortable and hoped that one day he could contribute to changing this phenomenon. After transferring to a government department, his original intention remained unchanged. Six years ago, he resigned from public office and co founded Yingsheng Company with friends. The company engages in the circular economy industry, turning waste such as stone powder into treasure, and has received strong support from the government. Currently, it can produce an average of 400000 hollow bricks per day and digest 200000 tons of stone powder per year

The reporter learned from the Nan'an Bureau of Industry and Information Technology that the stone material output rate in the Nan'an safety industry has increased from 77% five years ago to 87% currently; The emission of stone powder has been reduced from 6 million tons 20 years ago to 3 million tons currently, and all of them have been recycled and reused.

Creative development

Can cold stones be creative? "Nan'an Stone Industry's answer is," Yes

Five carat stone company located in Shuitou Town is a stone creative enterprise. Entering the company's product exhibition hall, various ultra-thin stone products are presented in a dazzling new scene under the light, making people dazzled. In front of an ultra-thin stone slab, the reporter placed the phone light on the back of the slab and was surprised to find that the stone was actually transparent.

Unlike typical stone companies, Wukra Company aimed at new technologies and creativity from the beginning of its establishment. In 2015, Xu Changcheng, who had been operating in the stone processing industry in the Yangtze River Delta region for a long time, returned to his hometown of Nan'an for development. After conducting research, he found that the traditional stone product market competition in Nan'an was already very competitive, and entering recklessly would pose significant risks.

He had to take a unique approach and seek new development models. Therefore, he registered and established a five carat company, decisively entering the creative stone field that was still in its infancy at the time.

In 2016, after visiting the creative capital of Milan, Italy, Xu Changcheng formed a research and creative team and entered the field of ultra-thin stone, which was still in the blank stage in China at that time. Soon, multiple ultra-thin stone products were launched, causing a great uproar in the market. Especially the 0.5mm ultra-thin slate launched by the Five Carat Company, which leads the industry.

Due to its unique advantages in the field of ultra-thin stone, Five Carat Company has won the favor of Apple Inc. in the United States and expressed its intention to use stone as a phone case. Xu Changcheng frankly stated that this matter is very difficult. At that time, it was the start-up stage of the five carat company, and Apple was not entirely satisfied with its technology and products. He secretly made up his mind to win the Apple order. So, on the one hand, he organized R&D personnel to work continuously, using new technology to continuously thin the phone case, and finally developed the thinnest 0.5mm slate in the industry; On the other hand, he flew to Hong Kong multiple times with samples and had repeated communication and exchanges with Apple's Asia Pacific Technical Director, ultimately winning the order. Since November 2016, the company has delivered over a million Apple phone cases.

Under the leadership of Wukra Company, more and more Nan'an stone enterprises are entering the field of creative stone. According to the Nan'an Stone Industry Association, there are currently over 500 cultural and creative stone enterprises in Nan'an. Nan'an has also issued documents such as "Several Opinions on Promoting the Development of Creative Stone Industry in Nan'an City" and "Encouraging Independent Innovation of Stone Industry Enterprises" to encourage stone enterprises to enter the creative industry.

Neolithic Age

In the past, Nan'an stone workers meticulously processed stone materials and focused on selling them; Now, batches of stone companies are transforming into stone machinery, shifting from selling stone to selling equipment.

Not long ago, at the Xiamen International Stone Fair, more than 10 stone machinery companies from Nan'an made a concentrated appearance, attracting high attention from the industry.

The reporter walked into the production workshop of Wanfu Stone Machinery Company and saw a dazzling array of stone machinery equipment, including more than 20 large products such as mining saws, cutting machines, and polishing machines, and more than 180 sub categories. Trucks from all over the country were queuing up for loading and shipping. Since the beginning of this year, our multiple production lines have maintained high load operation. In terms of the company's order situation, the local, provincial, domestic, and export markets in Nan'an have all achieved good growth trends, "said Li Qunsheng, Chairman of Wanfu Stone Machinery Company.

At the product exhibition hall of Giant Wheel Machinery Company, automated stone machinery products attract overseas merchants such as Iran and Brazil to visit. Zheng Xiaoling, assistant to the chairman of Julun Machinery Company, told reporters that as an old brand in the field of stone machinery in Nan'an, Julun Machinery has been cultivating the foreign trade market earlier and currently has agents in more than ten countries including India, Egypt, Russia, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. In recent years, against the backdrop of global infrastructure warming, overseas stone production capacity has also accelerated expansion, which has stimulated the demand for stone machinery and injected new vitality into the company's overseas business.

Once upon a time, the high-end stone equipment market in Nan'an was monopolized by "foreign brands" for a long time. In recent years, with more and more capital and enterprises from Nan'an entering the field of stone equipment, local stone equipment enterprises in Nan'an have made comprehensive efforts in technology research, quality stability, and after-sales service, gradually achieving catching up from behind.

Stone equipment is the upstream of the entire stone industry chain and also the most valuable link. The rise of the Nan'an stone equipment industry is the result of Nan'an stone people actively extending the industry chain and exploring new potential. Wang Qing'an, the president of Nan'an Stone Industry Association, said that currently 70% of the stone equipment purchased by Nan'an stone enterprises comes from local sources and is constantly selling equipment to the outside world.

Wanfu Stone Machinery, Julun Machinery, Haitian Stone Machinery, Shuinan Machinery, Xingfa Tools... Currently, a large number of local stone machinery and equipment enterprises in Nan'an have formed a "stone tool matrix" and become a new force in the Nan'an stone industry.

Statistics show that in 2022, large-scale enterprises in the machinery and equipment industry in Nan'an City achieved an annual output value of 67.25 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%, with a considerable portion coming from stone machinery.

From selling stone in the past to selling "stone tools" now, the stone machinery industry in Nan'an is accelerating to become a new growth pole in the local industrial economy, ushering in the "Neolithic" era for the Nan'an stone industry.

Expanding Headquarters Economy

Shuitou Town is the main base for the development of Nan'an's stone industry. Compared to previous years when factories were numerous, there are now many more office buildings here. Local people told reporters that most of these buildings come from local stone leading enterprises, which built their headquarters building on the basis of their factories.

As an outward oriented industry, Nan'an's stone trade covers more than 130 countries and regions, with imports and exports accounting for 60% and 55% of the country's total, respectively. Moreover, in recent years, Nan'an stone enterprises have been accelerating their domestic and international layout, acquiring mines at home and abroad, and setting up factories nearby for deep processing of stone.

When enterprises go to various places to set up factories, it involves the issue of headquarters, "Wang Qing'an said. Accelerating industrial integration and developing headquarters economy according to the situation is the long-term solution for the development of Nan'an stone industry.

In order to promote industrial integration and accelerate the development of the headquarters economy, Nan'an City has issued several documents such as the "Several Opinions on Building an International Stone Capital (Trial)" and the "Nan'an City Stone Industry Transformation and Upgrading Work Plan" in response to the situation. Three clear development ideas have been formulated: firstly, to establish a foothold in Nan'an, optimize and integrate existing resources, draw on the experience of intensive land use in advanced regions and industry cooperation, and develop the headquarters economy; The second is to implement the "going global" strategy, radiating the stone park throughout the country and creating a new pattern of development for the stone industry; The third is to build a major stone brand and further promote regional branding. I hope to use this opportunity to promote the breakthrough development of Nan'an's stone industry, create an international stone capital, and form a new industrial development pattern of "big groups, big industries, big brands, big alliances, and big commerce".

The stone industry in Nan'an has developed for so many years, and based on cost control considerations, many enterprises will consider relocating their production processes to the location of raw materials. It will be difficult for Nan'an to further expand the production capacity of the stone industry, but there is still great room for development in trade, research and development, and various supporting facilities. Bringing together the headquarters of the entire stone industry chain enterprises in Nan'an and creating a headquarters economy is the driving force for Nan'an to build a stone industry worth billions of yuan, "said Huang Mingjing, Chairman of Nan'an Guangming Stone Industry, when talking about the development of headquarters economy.

At present, multiple headquarters buildings such as the Nan'an Stone Industry Exhibition and Operation Center and the Hailian Creative Park Stone Industry Operation Center are poised to take off. (Reporter He Jin, Liu Yiqing, Correspondents Chen Xinwei, Huang Yupeng)

Journalist's note

Industrial transformation, shifting towards a new path of development

For over 30 years, people from Nan'an have created a huge stone industry cluster, which is truly admirable. From various economic indicators such as production capacity, output value, import and export volume, and industrial chain integrity, the current Nan'an stone industry is undoubtedly an influential pillar industry.

In recent years, with the slowdown of the domestic and international economy, the stone industry in Nan'an has faced many challenges such as overcapacity and declining profit margins, and the entire industry has entered a period of adjustment and transformation.

For traditional manufacturing industries, in order to achieve transformation and upgrading, move towards high-quality development, rediscover new development drivers, and reconstruct profit models, it is necessary to conscientiously implement the new development concept, closely connect with the "dual circulation" strategy of external and internal circulation interaction according to the requirements of high-quality development, and embark on a new path of innovation driven, green rise, and business model reconstruction. In the interview, a clear transformation path was about to emerge - to promote circular economy and strengthen green effects; Developing stone machinery and expanding the upstream and downstream industrial chain; Arm enterprises with technology and cultural creativity, increase the technological and cultural content of the industry, and enhance product added value; Facing the bottleneck of capacity improvement, we will focus on developing the headquarters economy.

These new paths of transformation are step-by-step and interconnected, demonstrating the resilience of Nan'an's stone industry and presenting new vitality, new energy, and new vitality to traditional industries, which is gratifying.

Through the transformation path of the Nan'an stone industry, it can be seen that the transformation and transformation of an industry must leverage its existing first mover advantages, and actively involve relevant entities on this premise. The resonance effect between government, enterprises, and banks can be formed to achieve overall promotion. Only such transformation can generate endogenous power and promote the continued high-quality development of the Nan'an stone industry cluster in the new era. (Reporter He Jin)