Resumen de Global Refractories: : Facing the next production revolution

Industrial Minerals

• One of the largest markets for industrial minerals, refractories are essential for producing steel, glass, ceramics, cement and lime and for many other processes requiring high temperatures. But as Richard Flook* explains, despite their crucial role, manufacturers of these products are facing significant challenges from changing global trends.

  The refractories industry is estimated to currently consume about 40m tpa of industrial minerals and has more than doubled in size in the decade between 2000 and 2010, mainly due to rapid industrialisation in China.

  Major markets for refractories are the production of steel, cement and glass and the processing of minerals. The steel, cement and lime industries are estimated to account for about 85% of the total refractory market.

  Construction markets therefore drive about 50% of overall refractory demand and automotive and other transport markets account for another 15%.

  In 2016, The World Economic Form envisaged the next industrial revolution and the "emergence of technologies that have the power to drive a whole new cycle of global economic activity". More recently, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) talked about the next production revolution, which "will occur because of a confluence of technologies" and will involve new materials and new processes and will transform production.