Published on Monday, September 28, 2015
Global Carbon Black Market Segment By Type & Applications
The global carbon black market is expected to surpass $25 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of over 4%. It is driven by rising demand from the tyre industry and the construction and manufacturing sectors, which use carbon black to strengthen industrial rubber compounds and other equipment. The global carbon black market is highly competitive, with all major players investing heavily in R&D to improve the quality of their products.
The three most prominent players in the market are Birla Carbon, Cabot Corporation, and Orion Engineered Carbons. Asia-Pacific represents the largest market for carbon black in the world, with a stronghold of 37% share, wherein the majority of the demand emanates from emerging economies such as China and India because of expanding tire manufacturing facilities and growth in the construction sector.
Carbon black is a deep black-colored powder with reinforcing, tinting, and conductive properties utilized across various sectors. The tyre industry is the largest customer of carbon black, which is used to improve the strength and longevity of automotive tires by increasing tensile strength and abrasion resistance.
Demand for carbon black in paints, coatings, and inks is expected to show an increase over the next five years. Demand for non-rubber applications that mainly use specialty blacks will significantly increase. Plastic and printing inks likely account for a substantial share of the demand for specialty blacks. Another emerging application area for specialty carbon black is metallurgy. As unique blacks command higher prices than the widely used furnace blacks, they offer higher margins to suppliers.
Drivers
- Rising demand from the tire industry, construction and manufacturing sectors.
- Increasing demand for specialty carbon black.
- Increasing investment in the tyre industry.
Challenges
- Volatility in raw material prices and environmental concerns.
- Substitution by other materials, such as silica.