Global Market Outlook on Carbon Black

  • The global carbon black capacity stands at 15.78 MMT. Demand is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.5–4.0 percent until 2022 
  • Demand from the tire and rubber industry is expected to lead the carbon black industry growth
  • About 0.91 MMT of capacity is expected to be added in Asia and Russia during 2019–2022. Environmental regulations and low profit margins are the major reasons for capacity reductions. Impact of these capacity reductions is expected to be minimal, as there is enough capacity available

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Demand Market Outlook

  • Carbon black prices and availability are highly driven by the CBFS in the region. The US and Europe have balanced dependence on crude and coal-based CBFS, while the Asian market is highly dependent on coal-based CBFS


Global Capacity–Demand Analysis

The global carbon black capacity stands at 15.8 MMT in 2017. Market is oversupplied on a global scale, with about 2.4 MMT of excess capacity in 2017
Demand is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.5–4.0 percent until 2022, driven by tire in Asia and specialty carbon black industry across the globe

Capacity: 

  • On the capacity front, about 0.91 MMT of capacity is expected to be added to the global carbon black supply base from 2019 - 2021
  • Operating rates are expected to be in the range 80–85 percent for the next five years 
  • Growing environmental regulations against carbon emissions have led to carbon black producers in the US focusing on adding capacities at their plant locations in Asia to meet their domestic demand

Demand Outlook: 

  • Carbon black consumption is expected to increase at a steady pace over the next five years, largely spearheaded by the demand from the tire industry 
  • China dominates the global carbon black demand with about 41 percent of the market share in 2017. This demand is expected to grow, along with other Asian economies, like India, Indonesia, and other emerging economies 
  • Specialty carbon black applications are expected to pose strong demand growth until 2022

Global Trade Dynamics

  • Specialty grades and price of the material have been the major drivers of trade in the carbon black market 
  • North America: There has been marginal fall in the imports during 2016, due to the surplus availability of the domestic material
  • Europe: Exports have increased marginally in 2016, due to increased distribution of carbon black through the European ports
  • Asia: Net exporter, mainly exporting to other Asian countries