Most of the carbon black manufacturing units in the western world, especially in North America and Europe, are being forced to shut down their operations because of the heavy competition they are facing from low-cost Asian manufacturers, according to Tech Archival analysts. This has resulted in shift of global carbon black manufacturing capacities toward Asia, fueling the growth of new manufacturing capacities, especially in China and India. It is expected that by 2015, nearly 65% of the global carbon black demand will come from Asia, which will only further strengthen the region’s position as the largest producer and consumer of carbon black.
Benefiting from this global shift, the Chinese carbon black market reportedly recorded total sales volumes of more than 3 million tons and generated nearly $5 billion in revenues in 2013. Likewise, the total domestic production volumes and export volumes continued to grow, continuing China’s presence as the world’s largest producer and net exporter of carbon black by 2013.