Can rubber go “green”? The recycling of old tires is a major step forward on the path towards a circular economy. Major tire manufacturers, pyrolysis companies, and research institutions have launched pilot projects with the goal of recycling pyrolysis oil (TDO) and carbon black from old tires. So far, recycled carbon black is only a promising niche product. The most recent Ceresana report concerning the world market for carbon black shows that this important industrial base material is still mainly produced by incomplete combustion of fossil raw materials, most often from heavy petroleum fractions. The current market report predicts that the demand for carbon black will rise to 17 million tonnes per year by 2030.
Carbon Black Protects and Strengthens
Carbon black is being used as a filler and reinforcing agent in tires and many other rubber products. An average car tire contains around 3 kg of carbon black. Accordingly, the segment tires, including tires made from the rubber types SBR, BR or natural rubber, constitutes by far the most important application area: currently, the worldwide demand for carbon black in this segment amounts to 8,5 million tonnes per year. Elastomers for industrial applications comes in second place: Carbon black is needed for a variety of rubber products in different industries, from the chemical industry, mechanical engineering and the construction industry, to the electrical and electronics industry. It is used, for example, in the production of conveyor belts, roll covers, hoses, profiles, seals, cables, molded parts, and roofing foils. The use of carbon black as a black pigment accounts for only a comparatively small share of the total market. In this application area, it is utilized in plastics, paints and coatings as well as printing inks. In a technical sense, even small amounts of carbon black can be significant, as it can be used, e.g., for UV-protection in high-performance coatings or as ESD-protection.
Recovered Carbon Black (rCB) is Just at the Beginning
The global production of and demand for carbon black are increasing. The region Asia Pacific is a forerunner in this area: It accounts for more than 64% of the global carbon black production volume. With a demand of approx. 4.8 million tonnes, China is the largest consumer of carbon black. Especially due to the growing domestic demand in China, but also in India, Asia-Pacific will continue to increase the production of carbon black – to probably more than 11.8 million tonnes in the year 2030. North America takes up a distant second place compared to Asia-Pacific, closely followed by Eastern Europe. In regards to demand for carbon black, North America is also in second place, and Western Europe in third place. Compared to the more common virgin carbon black (vCB), recovered carbon black does not play a big role: less than 1 percent of the carbon black used in new tires is recycled. The available amounts and standardization of quality are not yet sufficient for wider use. However, there is at least one standard already in existence: ASTM D8178 regulates the terminology concerning recovered carbon black.
Industrial Analysis of Carbon Black
Chapter 1 provides a presentation and analysis of the global carbon black market – including forecasts until 2030: Demand, production and revenues will be listed for each world region. Additionally, the worldwide and regional demand for carbon black in its different application areas will be analyzed in detail: tires; rubber products for cars, industry, construction and other applications; pigments for plastics, printing inks, paints and coatings.
In Chapter 2, 21 countries are analyzed separately. Demand, revenues, production and trade are listed separately. The demand for the most important national markets is analyzed in this chapter.
Chapter 3 provides useful company profiles of the most important carbon black manufacturers, clearly arranged according to contact data, revenues, profit, product range, production sites, and a brief company profile. Detailed profiles are provided for 57 manufacturers of carbon black. Further Information about the Market Study “Carbon Black” (4th edition): https://www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/chemicals/carbon-black/
About Ceresana
As one of the world’s leading market research institutes, Ceresana specializes in the chemicals, plastics, packaging and industrial goods sectors, with a focus on automotive / mobility. Since 2002, companies have benefited from high-quality industry analyses and forecasts. Over 200 market studies provide more than 10,000 clients around the world with the knowledge base for sustainable success. More about Ceresana at www.ceresana.com
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