Japan, along with South Korea, Taiwan, and more recently China, has been one of the great refractory markets of recent times. One of its key characteristics is that it has always been at the cutting edge of refractory development and refractory raw material usage - driven in large part by its pioneering steel and metals industries.
Another characteristic has been the market’s reliance on imported refractory minerals, the country being poor in natural resources for this key industrial mineral market.
Despite its “ahead of the pack” badge of honour in refractory development, like most developed countries, Japan’s refractory market is also hostage to the peaks and troughs of the national economy as well increasing efficiencies in steelmaking technology.
Since 2001, Japanese refractories production has dropped by about 117,000 tonnes, despite an overall increase in the country’s steel production (see charts).
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