European Carbon Black Producers Continue to Dwindle

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Over the past year, several carbon black producers in Europe have permanently closed their doors, including Cabot France SA in France, as well as the only two carbon black producers in the United Kingdom: Cabot Carbon Limited (Cheshire) and Columbian Chemicals Company U.K. (Bristol).

These closures and other carbon black closures in the region are the continued result of decreased regional demand, escalating transportation costs and more economical production from foreign countries in the Middle East. New capacity, such as that proposed by Reliance Petroleum Limited (Mumbai, India) at the company's petrochemical complex in Jamnagar, India, will produce an estimated 1.5 million metric tons per year, many times larger and more cost-efficient than the older technology being removed from the market. Automotive tire production accounts for a majority of the carbon black consumption in Europe, and much of this demand has shifted to Eastern European countries in the past five to seven years.

Another carbon black plant closure is pending this summer when Carbon Black Nederland BV (Botlek-Rotterdam, Netherlands) plans to cease operations of a 75,000-metric-ton-per-year plant in Botlek-Rotterdam in July. This closure is expected to be permanent, with dismantling or demolition of the plant beginning later this year or in the first quarter of 2011. This closure will leave only one carbon black producer in the Netherlands: Cabot BV (Botlek-Rotterdam), which has a plant also located in Botlek-Rotterdam.

In North America, the demand for carbon black has met similar declines over the past several years, although not resulting in the number of plant closures witnessed in Europe. For the past several years, there has been a push for the recycling of used automotive tires to produce virgin-grade carbon black through advanced pyrolysis technology that has been in development for nearly a decade. Several such plants are currently proposed across the United States, and the benefits of these plants are plentiful, as they offer an attractive means of producing commercial quantities of carbon black, while also producing reclaimed steel, solvents and crumb rubber.

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