Forecasted expansion in Ground Calcium Carbonate market

The market for ground calcium carbonate (GCC) expanded from around 56Mt in 2004 to almost 72Mt in 2007, an average annual growth rate of nearly 9%. World demand for GCC is forecast to continue to grow at an average annual growth rate of 4% to 2012, to reach 87.4Mt.

Paper pigments driving main growth in industry followed plastics production

Rising demand for paper pigments from the paper industry has been the main driver behind the rapid growth in GCC consumption since the early 1980s. GCC competes with kaolin and precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), mainly as filler, but increasingly in coating applications in printing and writing paper. The market for GCC in paper coating has shown a high rate of growth because of its brightness and good performance in high-speed paper machines, which has helped GCC to take market share from kaolin.

The plastics industry is the second largest user of GCC, accounting for an estimated 14.4Mtpy of consumption in 2007, compared with 10.2Mtpy in 2004. GCC is the most commonly used filler in plastics, but other minerals such as talc and alumina trihydrate (ATH) are used in more demanding applications. The trend is for finer ground material as consumers use GCC less as filler to reduce costs, but more as a process aid and functional additive. GCC is the most commonly used filler and extender mineral in emulsion and semi-gloss paints; finer grades have also been developed that can be used in gloss paints.

Global production capacity for all grades of GCC has grown to 73Mtpy compared with less than 60Mtpy in 2004. Most of the new capacity has been built in Asia and this region now accounts for 29% of world capacity. Ten companies control nearly 64% of global production capacity

Production of GCC in China has grown from 5.2Mt in 2002 to 11.9Mt in 2007. Much of this growth has been fuelled by demand for wet ground material from the paper mills. Both Imerys and Omya have invested in WGCC in China GCC plants have traditionally been located close to sources of marble or limestone, but increasing demand from countries where local reserves of suitable calcium carbonate are limited, or absent, has led to the growth in shipments of high-brightness marble to distant plants located close to leading end-use markets. Major flows of marble are from Malaysia to China and Japan, Italy to Belgium and Sweden and in the coming years from Turkey to The Netherlands.

Forecasts predict continued growth in GCC market

Over the next four years, paper will remain the main market for GCC and its market share will increase slightly. Global demand for GCC in paper is forecast to rise by 5.5%py to 2012. The anticipated strong growth in Asian production will be slightly offset by much lower rates of growth in Europe and North America. The South American market for GCC has been constrained by lack of suitable raw materials but new plants based on imported marble could lead to increased demand in this region. Global growth in demand for GCC in plastics and paint over the years to 2012 is expected to grow at 5%y and 4%py respectively.