I still have some information regarding the High Performance and Functional Pigments conference to report on that I began last November. Based on data provided by SRI Consulting, the global volume of pigments is 7.2 million tons, of which the black and white commodity pigments make up the largest share, with 63.4% being titanium dioxide and 11.1% carbon black. Zinc oxide is 0.4%, and the color and special-effect pigments group accounts for the remaining 25.1% volume.
This latter group (1. 8 million tons) is dominated by iron oxide at 71.1% of the global volume; complex inorganics, ultramarine etc., at 10.0%; and the color organic and special-effect pigments at 18.9%. This latter group (~340 thousand tons) is comprised of high-performance and special-effect pigments (27.0%), and the remainder is comprised of the red, yellow, blue and green organics. The classic organic pigment prices are much lower of course than the HPP organics, which typically range from $25 - $58/kg. Both organic and inorganic HPPs are higher price as the market dictates. The special-effect pigment group is comprised of the metal-effect/aluminum group, the pearlescents and the color-shifting pigments plus the fluorescent, luminescent, thermochromic and security pigments.