Ceramic minerals: : The old and the new

• Autores: Kasia Patel
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 592, 2017 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Abril)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Ceramics end-markets Wall and floor tiles Brick and roof tiles Refractories Sanitaryware Table and ornametalware Technical ceramics Abrasives Clay pipes Expanded clay Porcelain ceramics US housing drives floor tile consumption The classic ceramic body consists of three major components - clay, quartz and feldspar - while ceramic raw materials are generally classified as "plastic" or "non-plastic", depending on their function. According to the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), by mid-2016 the US ceramic tile market was on course to record annual growth for the seventh year in a row, with overall square footage of ceramic tile consumption up 7.1% compared with the first half of 2015. The rebound in the US housing market has been driven by a strengthening of the economy in the past year and the corresponding increase in the value of the US dollar has made it cheaper to import both raw materials and finished products, which for the US tile industry means lower input costs but increased competition from international tile suppliers. According to the USGS, US domestic production and sales of feldspar increased by 14% y-o-y in 2016 owing to continuing growth in the construction industry, while European consumption declined due to sluggishness in the same sector. According to Iluka's head of marketing, Matthew Blackwell, the company is seeing increased demand from zircon millers owing to restocking as consumers sense that prices for the mineral have stopped falling.