Global market volume for carbon black is to increase by more than 3.1 million tonnes until 2019, says German research consultancy Ceresana in its latest report on the industry sector. The most important growth market will be Asia Pacific with consumption and production volumes forecast to increase at average rates of more than 4.5% a year. China is dominating the market by single-handedly consuming more than 30% of the total market volume. Furthermore, this region will become a net-exporter in the future since massive expansions of capacity will result in exports outnumbering imports in the upcoming years.

Rubber products mainly utilise carbon black as filler material while other industrial segments need it as a black pigment. The automotive industry is the largest sales market since carbon black is crucial in the production of tyres. “This application area processed more than 7.8 million tonnes of carbon black in 2011,” explains Oliver Kutsch, CEO of Ceresana. Developments in the automotive industry have strong implications for the market for tyres and are also dominating in the utilisation of a range of rubber products. On average, manufacturers of carbon black have been able to profit from the sound development of the automotive market in the past eight years. Not only is the manufacturing of new automobiles of importance, but also the number of cars already in stock. In 2010, the threshold of 1 billion vehicles was exceeded for the first time.

Production costs and prices of carbon black 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.