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[November 2004]
Monolithics Drive Growth in European Refractories Market
The West European market for refractories totalled about 3.3 Mt in 2002, with a corresponding value of around €2.25 billion. Germany was the largest producer, with about 35% of the total, followed by the UK with 13%, Austria and Spain with 12%, and Italy with approximately 11%. Spain's production and consumption of refractories have grown rapidly since 1997, reflecting growth in production of steel, ceramics, foundries and other end-user industries in the country.
This is according to European and International Refractories Industry: A Market/Technology Report, a survey of the industry published by Materials Technology Publications, UK.
Of the total West European market for refractories in 2002, slightly over 1.53 Mt, or 46%, was monolithic or unshaped refractory materials and the other 1.8 Mt was bricks and shapes. Monolithic (unshaped) refractories will continue to grow in importance at the expense of bricks and shapes and, by the year 2008, will represent more than 50% of the European refractories market.
Although production of refractories in Western Europe increased by an annual average of about 1.3% a year between 1999 and 2002 (almost all of this growth was due to expansion in monolithics production), production levels are expected to remain at about 4.5 Mt a year to 2007: West European consumption represents about 74% of this figure.
Iron and steel production is responsible for about 55% of the total demand for refractories: therefore, the profitability of the refractories industry as a whole is strongly influenced by steel production levels and steel plant investments. Overall growth in steel production in Western European for the period 2003–2007 is expected to average 1.6% per year, with high growth in 2004 and less towards the end of this period. East European steel production should continue to show healthy growth in this period. These factors will have a significant impact on the demand for refractories.
Europe is self-sufficient in only a few refractory raw materials, so there is a substantial requirement for imports of key materials. China has been a major supplier of many relatively inexpensive refractory raw materials. However, increasing demand from China's own en-user industries has restricted exports of many raw materials, including magnesia, bauxite, alumina and silicon carbide. This situation has led to shortages in some cases and consequent price increases. Increasing oil prices have also negatively impacted prices for raw materials.
Over recent years there has been considerable consolidation within the refractories industry. The two largest refractories groups, RHI (formerly Veitsch-Radex Didier) and Vesuvius (owned by Cookson plc), both made several acquisitions, taking over Harbison-Walker and Premier/Hepworth respectively, as well as several smaller companies. In 2003, RHI had sales of €1.23 billion, or an estimated 11% share of the worldwide market, and Vesuvius had refractories sales of about €1.0 billion, or around 9% of the total.
The 560-page report costs €1750 ($2200).
For further information, contact: Materials Technology Publications, 40 Sotheron Road, Watford, WD17 2QA, UK; tel: +44-1923-237910; fax: +44-1923-211510; E-mail: info@mat-tech.co.uk; Internet: www.mat-tech.co.uk
ENDS