Balancing Two Ledgers: How Deep Is the 'Gas Anxiety' of Ceramic Enterprises in Rongxian and Rongchang?

The Sichuan-Chongqing region is a major pole on China's ceramics map. Rongxian in Sichuan is renowned as the 'Ceramic Capital of China (West)', producing nearly half of the nation's liquor jars; Rongchang in Chongqing is one of the 'Three Major Ceramic Capitals', famous for its daily-use and art ceramics. The combined annual output value of the ceramic industry in both places exceeds tens of billions of yuan, with over a thousand clustered enterprises. However, behind this glory lies a set of data that cannot be ignored: in Rongxian and Rongchang, fuel costs for ceramic enterprises generally account for 30%-45% of total production costs, and in some daily-use and building ceramics enterprises with lower product added value, this proportion is even higher. · Rongxian: The county has over 100 ceramic and supporting enterprises, dozens of above-scale enterprises, and annual natural gas consumption of hundreds of millions of cubic meters. Gas cost is the largest variable cost for enterprises. · Rongchang: The ceramic industry is a traditional pillar. A large number of daily-use ceramics and liquor jar enterprises are clustered in Guangfu Industrial Park, Anfu Street, and other areas, all facing immense operational pressure from gas price fluctuations. Taking a tunnel kiln with a daily output of 20,000 liquor jars as an example, the average daily gas consumption exceeds 5,000 cubic meters. At the local industrial gas price of 2.8 yuan per cubic meter, a single kiln's annual gas cost alone exceeds 4.2 million yuan. If the gas price rises 10%, that's an extra 420,000 yuan per year—almost the entire annual net profit for many small and medium-sized enterprises. The greater anxiety comes from 'unexplained consumption'. During visits, many enterprises reported: after 5-6 years of kiln use, burners age, flames turn yellow, temperature fields become uneven—they only know 'gas usage is increasing and product yield is falling', but lack scientific energy consumption assessment methods. Unit product consumption rises year by year, yet they dare not easily shut down for retrofits—a single day of kiln shutdown means a loss of over a hundred thousand yuan in output value. Liquor jar enterprises in Rongxian also face a special pain point: high firing temperatures and long soaking times demand extremely strict temperature uniformity. If local temperature deviation exceeds ±15°C, products crack or glaze defects occur, leading to batch scrap. Aging kilns and declining burner combustion efficiency are the main culprits behind temperature unevenness. 'Dare not stop, dare not modify, yet have to modify'—this is the real dilemma facing countless ceramic enterprises in Rongxian and Rongchang. Meanwhile, environmental constraints are tightening. In recent years, Rongchang District has continuously strengthened air pollution control in the ceramic industry, requiring enterprises to achieve stable compliance; Rongxian has established Sichuan's first carbon account for industrial enterprises, linking carbon emission performance to financing costs. Carbon emissions are no longer a 'free quota' but a cost directly reflected on financial statements. Facing persistently high gas prices on one side and hard environmental compliance constraints on the other, the twin pressures of 'cost reduction' and 'emission reduction' are forcing the Sichuan-Chongqing ceramic industry to find a practical path to breakthrough.