Refractories Market Intelligence

Industry Outlook & Drivers

Global Outlook on Refractory Market

• Though there is a decline in demand, due to reduction of specific consumption of refractories in steel sector, steel demand is expected to dominate the global refractories market with 60 percent share
• In spite of the weakening demand in China for steel, Asia is expected to dominate the demand for refractories, due to the developing demand for steel in India
• The demand is steady from end-users, due to increasing environmental awareness and environmental agencies globally regarding the usage and disposal of refractories. This is likely to have an impact on the market growth
• Developing countries, such as China, Russia, Mexico, and South Africa, are making a huge investment in large-scale infrastructure projects, which is anticipated to significantly boost the growth of the steel and iron industry

Raw Material Share of Refractories (2016)

• Mineral processing refractories either fall under the category of clay based acidic refractories or non clay based basic or neutral refractories, such as fire clays, alumina, mullite, magnesia, chromite, and dolomite
• Clay refractories are primarily used by the low temperature zones of blast furnace in the manufacture of steel and in the smelters used for Aluminium processing
• The basic oxygen Furnace uses close to 60 percent of the magnesia refractories produced and the electric arc furnace uses close to 25 percent of the alumina refractories produced globally

Market Overview

Global Refractories End-use by Industries (2016)

• Chinese refractory production is estimated to reach 27.46 MMT billion in 2022, with an average growth rate of 3.70 per cent during 2019–2021, owing to new plant establishments or restart of existing plants
• Steel, being the major end-user industry for refractories, is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 2–3 per cent until 2021, due to rising demand from construction, infrastructure development, transportation, and energy sectors
• Also, glass, cement, energy, and chemical sectors will drive the refractories market until the forecasted period, as it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2–5 per cent until 2021
• Raw material supply disruptions, owing to environmental inspections in 2017 and 2018, have impacted the overall production of refractories

Refractories - Global Demand

• Demand is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3–3.5 per cent in the upcoming years to reach 53.11 MMT by 2020, owing to increasing demand from steel, iron, non-ferrous, power, and glass industries
• Constant cost pressure has been pushing the steel manufacturers to reduce the specific consumption of refractories in the processing of steel and this is projecting a negative impact on the future demand
• On the positive side, the rapid growth in infrastructure projects across the globe, especially the APAC region, is projecting exponential growth in the global cement and glass industries, which accounted for about 67.92 per cent of the total demand and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 3.83 per cent in the forecasted period

Refractories Manufacture's Market Share(2016)

• Globally, the supply market of refractories is fragmented with major suppliers, such as Vesuvius, RHI, Magnesita, Imerys, Krosaki, and Shingawa accounting for a combined market share of 18 percent
• Various Chinese refractory manufacturers have entered the refractory market with their own technology. While they may have performance issues, the low prices might lead to a competitive cost-per-ton values in future.

Global Refractories Drivers and Constraints 

Drivers

Non-mining Sectors

Glass, cement, energy, and chemical sectors drive the demand for refractories. These sectors contributed to 40 per cent of the refractory demand. Growth in these sectors is expected to increase their net market share by 2–5 per cent in 2020

Infrastructure/Demand for Cement

Demand for cement and lime is ever increasing, due to the infrastructure growth in emerging countries, which in turn drives the demand for refractories in cement processing.

Mineral Processing Output

Increasing steel, non-ferrous and mineral output processing, and beneficiation due to growing demand for the commodities, drives the demand for refractory usage. Rising commodity prices of steel, aluminium, and other non-ferrous minerals impact the global mineral production, which in turn would help in increasing the value of demand for refractories.

Constraints

Reduction in Specific Consumption

The specific consumption of refractory was close to 15–20 kg to produce 1 ton of steel.With increasing cost pressure and development of thermally-resistant refractories, the specific consumption is expected to reduce to as low as 5kg to produce 1 ton of steel.

Fragmented Market

Though the refractory market is close to 49.86 MMT, the supply market is fragmented with top 15 players having close to 20 per cent market share. The marginal differences in annual revenues of these suppliers increase the competition among them and may result in normalizing the price of refractories. Suppliers having a stable research and development facility are expected to be ahead of the competition.

Cost Structure

The major cost factors involved are raw materials and labor costs, which account for about 80 per cent of the total cost.