Market Trends of Asia-Pacific Metallurgical Grade Fluorspar Industry
Increasing Demand from the Cement Segment
- Metallurgical-grade fluorspar is used in cement production where it acts mainly as a flux. It is added to the mix of cement raw materials before introduction to the rotary kiln.
- The addition of fluorspar provides savings in thermal energy by allowing the kiln to operate at a lower temperature, thus saving fuel.
- It also increases the amount of tricalcium silicate produced. More tricalcium silicate results in a softer clinker product, which requires less grinding time, thus saving electrical energy.
- However, the use of metallurgical fluorspar can damage the refractory lining in the cement kiln and this factor has limited its use in the cement industry.
- The burgeoning building and construction industry in the Asia-Pacific has been instrumental in igniting the market demand for cement, and thereby, fueling the demand for metallurgical fluorspar in cement applications, until the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the impact of the pandemic on the cement demand in the Asia-Pacific region has been milder than expected.
- Cement production in India has increased over the years. According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (India), the gorwth rate of cement product reached 10.6 % however registered the negative slope when compared with the goowth rate of previous year.
- Similalry, as per the India Brand Equity Foundation the production volume of cement in India has reached 381 million metric tons in financial year 2022.
- Furthermore, according to the Ministry of Finance Japan, the sales revenue of the construction industry in Japan has reached JPY 149.8 trillion (1.01 USD trillion) in 2022 and has increased when compared to JPY 136.7 trillion (USD 0.92 trillion) in 2021.
- Therefore, the aforementioned factors are expected to show significant impact on the market in the coming years.
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China to Dominate the Market
- In the Asia-Pacific region, China dominates other countries as it is one of the fastest emerging economies and has become one of the biggest production houses in the world today.
- According to the World Steel Association, In 2022, China's crude steel production was about 1.02 billion metric tons, a slight decrease compared to the previous year. Annual crude steel production in China has been increasing over the past decade, and China has been the world's top producer of crude steel.
- According to the Stainless Steel Council of China, in 2022, China's crude steel output reached 31.975 million metric tons.
- China is also the largest cement producer in the global market. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, in 2022, the production volume of cement in China amounted to almost 2.13 billion metric tons.
- The central government is pushing for the sale of more than CNY 3.75 (USD 550 billion) worth of so-called 'special bonds,' which is likely to jump-start private spending and investment. Almost 30% of the money is earmarked for industrial parks, town construction, and infrastructure, while another 20% is going to be spent on transport, logistics, and energy projects. These are expected to have a positive effect on the metallurgical-grade fluorspar market in the country.
- Therefore, the factors mentioned above are expected to show a significant impact on the market in the coming years.
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