International. Fillers not only make products cheaper, they often also greatly improve the properties of filled materials. Market research company Ceresana is analyzing the entire filler market for the fifth time.
Global demand for ground calcium carbonate (GCC), precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), kaolin, talc, carbon black and other filler materials will presumably amount to about 75 million tonnes by 2024. Ceresana market researchers expect revenue to increase by an average of 3.2% per year.
Regional differences
In the study, the most important application areas are analyzed: paper, plastics, paints and varnishes, elastomers, adhesives and sealants, and more. There are significant differences between sales markets for fillers with respect to world regions: while application in the paper industry accounts for a market share of 31% in Western Europe, the proportion is less than 19% in Asia. Conversely, manufacturers of elastomer products in Asia own shares of about 32% in the filler market: in Western Europe, the proportion amounts to 22%. To emphasize these regional and country-specific differences, the demand for fillers in the application areas is analyzed in detail.
Highly filled materials
The most important sales market for fillers in 2016 was the elastomer segment. This application area accounted for approximately 28.0% of total global consumption. For the coming years, Ceresana expects further steady growth in this segment. Plastics are the second largest application area in the world. Demand for landfills in this segment will presumably increase to around 22 million tonnes by 2024. New and more demanding applications for plastics and engineering composites require fillers to possess properties of increasing quality. Automotive engineering, for example, systematically uses loads to reduce product weight and increase the stability of plastic products. In addition, the production of highly filled compounds with properties adapted to meet the exact needs of individual customers is also increasing: these plastics contain up to 85% fillers, possess excellent mechanical properties and are even more cost-effective than conventional materials in many cases.
GCC and Carbon Black dominate the market
With a market share of 34%, the most widely used filler agent on the global market is ground calcium carbonate (GCC). Over the past eight years, global demand for GCC has increased by an average of 2.7% per year. Of the total volume used worldwide in 2016, approximately 50% was used in Asia-Pacific. Until 2024, Ceresana forecasts an annual increase in GCC at rates of 2.5%. GCC's biggest consumer is the plastics segment, which is likely to further increase its demand for fillers. Paintings and segment varnishes ranked second, followed by paper.
Carbon blacks are the second largest sales market with a demand of 11.7 million tons. The rubber industry is the most important application area for carbon black. It is used as a reinforcement filler, as it significantly increases the abrasion resistance of the tire-rubber.
Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) is the third largest sales market. Many properties of PCC are identical to those of GCC. PCC is most often used in paper production, followed by use in paints and varnishes.
