Resumen de Aachen 2013: Refractory minerals capacity heading for oversupply
"Refractories for glass are still struggling, particularly since the solar industry collapsed," said Dr Ulrich Roger of Deutsche Glastechnische Gesellschaft, "but this is a valley of tears that we just have to work through," he added.
"Business is a lot quieter this year than it was last year," one industry participant told IM. "We hear that steel output is up, but this doesn't seem to be feeding through to orders," they added.
"I don't think that refractories manufacturers will ever get away from buying commodities on the spot market," one Europe-based industry insider told IM. "Nobody holds anything in stock anymore, so unless [manufacturers] have captive supplies of all their materials, they will still need to buy from the market," they added.
