Carbon black market on the rise

According to the latest Ceresana market study entitled "Carbon Black", the research institute forecasts dynamic growth of global demand for carbon black: market volume is to increase by more than 3.1 million tonnes until 2019. Rubber products mainly utilize carbon black as filler material while other industrial segments need it as a black pigment.
The automotive industry is the largest sales market for carbon black since this latter is crucial in the production of tires. This application field processed more than 7.8 million tonnes of carbon black in 2011.
Most important growth motor on the market will be Asia-Pacific. Consumption and production volumes should increase at average rates of more than 4.5% p.a. each. China is dominating the market by single-handedly consuming more than 30% of total global market volume. Furthermore, this region will become a net-exporter in the future.
Production costs and prices are mainly influenced by the prices for raw materials and vary greatly due to volatile prices for crude oil. The increase of the average global crude oil price from US$27/barrel in 2003 to more than US$108/barrel in 2011 had caused prices to rise significantly in the past already. They rose by almost 130% in the same time frame. Even though the rise of production costs slows down in the upcoming years, pressure on income margins for manufacturers of carbon black will continue to increase.