KONSTANZ, Germany - In a newly released second issue of the Market Study Carbon Black, Ceresana's market researchers forecast dynamic growth in global demand for carbon black. By 2022, its volume is expected to rise to more than 15 million metric tons.

The most important application area for carbon black is tires made of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), butadiene rubber (BR) and natural rubber. This segment accounted for around 70 percent of the overall demand in 2014. Ranked second was the production of rubber goods for the industry and construction market segments. Carbon black is processed into a wide range of products that are used in the chemical, mechanical engineering and construction industry, as well as the electrical and electronics industries. Products include conveyer belts, roll coverings, tubes, profiles, seals, cables, moldings and roofing foils. The highest carbon black demand was recorded for the SBR, BR, NBR and EPDM elastomer types. The proportion of carbon black used as a black pigment in printing inks, plastics, and paints and coatings represented less than 10 percent of the total market volume in 2014. However, these application areas are experiencing the strongest growth rates of 2.9 to 4.5 percent per annum.

In 2014, more than 60 percent of carbon black was processed in the Asia-Pacific region. North America ranked second at a considerable distance, followed by Eastern Europe. As capacities will be increased by almost two million metric tons, export surplus in Asia will augment further despite rising local requirements, and production plants will be expanded above all in China and India.

For additional information about the study, visit http://www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/chemicals/carbon-black/.