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Welcome to the March 2020 issue of the Metal Market Magazine, which features extended and analytical content on energy trends and steel tube and pipe products.
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Markets for oilfield minerals like frac sand and barite are being influenced by national policies and international trade, reports William Clarke.
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Frustration at the lack of progress in India’s mining sector was simmering at the annual FIMI meeting in Delhi in September. Sunder Singh discovers how many in the industry believe that, far from advancing, mineral production in India is going backwards.
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Markets for oilfield minerals have had a slow start to the year while global drilling activity remains limited and oil markets repeatedly fail to break new highs.
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Turkey is the standout performer in Eurasia’s industrial minerals industry but its economic recession is affecting the wider region. Rose Pengelly looks at what neighboring countries are doing to boost their domestic mining sectors.
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India has recorded economic growth of around 7% per year in the past three years. But while it has significant resources of some of the most widely used industrial minerals, this sector has shown only modest growth, as Industrial Minerals correspondent Sunder Singh discovers.
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Although the number of industrial minerals covered by IM is far reaching and the technology required for their production often varies by sector, the mining industry is seeing increasing calls for corporate social responsibility and greener technology, particularly in light of the growing role renewable energy has to play in the everyday lives of consumers.
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Improvements in oil and gas drilling activity in North America have paved the way for recovery in demand for oilfield minerals such as frac sand, barite and bentonite, but as Kasia Patel, IM Correspondent, reports, the rebound has tested suppliers’ ability to respond.
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Chinese barite production and exports enjoyed a heady few years when the US oil boom was at its peak three years ago, but the decline in drilling activity since 2014 has seen a slowdown in demand for the oilfield mineral. However, in November 2016 there are signs of a recovery with US rig counts higher and a likelihood of oil prices increasing to $50-55/bbl. This will lead to increased consumption of barite in 2017, Ian Wilson, Consultant, finds.
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High volatility in energy prices shook commodity markets over the past year, with oil taking a dive headfirst to lows that had not been reached for over a decade. This had negative consequences for oilfield service operators as well as mineral suppliers, who saw demand and prices falling for proppants and barite, while bentonite was, to an extent, spared.
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As the US Geological Survey prepares to issue a special publication on the mineral resources of Iran, the international business community is kicking its heels in frustration about the snail’s pace of progress towards establishing trade links with the Islamic Republic, Rose Pengelly, IM Correspondent, writes.
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A roundup of the year's main events in the global oilfield minerals industries.
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The UK's Convervative party has pledged to support fracking in a bid to boost domestic energy production. Emma Hughes explores what this means for industrial minerals.
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As well as importing more minerals into the region, countries in the Middle East also started to concentrate on developing their own minerals industry, here, Siobhan Lismore-Scott details why this has happened and where.
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As unconventional shale oil and gas exploration and development continues at pace in North America and further afield, Andrew Scogings, Industrial Minerals Consultant, provides an executive summary of IM’s upcoming research report on drilling-grade barite.
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With the recent publication of data for 2012, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has 100 years of continuous mineral production data - but what do they tell us about worldwide industrial mineral production? Teresa Brown analyses some of these trends and what they say about the industry as a whole.
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An increase in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) over the past few years means that demand for oilfield minerals has never been stronger. Continued drilling and exploration kept demand high for minerals such as frac sand, bauxite, kaolin, bentonite and barite over the course of 2014.
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Energy minerals still waiting for battery lift off; chromite market bearish over next 12 months
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Global increases for calcium carbonate and kaolin
Refractory minerals under strain in China
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The downturn of the global “commodities supercyle” and slowing raw material demand in China has been felt keenly in Australia’s resources sector. But while proponents of Australian mining admit the industry isn’t quite as mighty as it used to be, they say that there are still plenty of reasons to be positive Down Under, Siobhan Lismore-Scott, Editor and
Laura Syrett, Prices Editor, discover.
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Although regulatory difficulties in the past may have discouraged foreign investment, South East Asia is being touted as a region ripe for development with many underexploited resources and demand for industrial minerals in a variety of markets including refractories, glass, ceramics, construction and proppants.
Andrew Scogings, IM Correspondant, Kasia Patel, Deputy Editor, and Tran Kim Phuong, Contributor
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Antimony, iodine suffer from slow China growth; Tough times continue for TiO2 pigment market; FM producers storing up trouble for the future
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Owing to recent political events in Ukraine, and indirectly those in the Middle East, concerns have mounted in relation to oil and gas delivery to Europe, with some analysts suggesting that North American shale resources may need to be called upon. However, due to basic economic factors, a more realistic solution would be for the EU and Ukraine to develop their own shale resources but, so far, with the exception of the UK, and to a lesser extent Poland and Spain, no large-scale efforts are being undertaken, finds Vasili Nicoletopoulos.*
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Agrimineral demand recovery continues as flame retardant chemical price growth stutters; no gains in sight for mineral sands
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Turkey has an abundant variety of industrial raw materials and is in an ideal location to deliver high volume industrial minerals to European, Asian and African markets at competitive prices.
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North American demand for oilfield minerals has never been stronger, but now other countries, such as China, are looking to increase their production of oil and gas from shale reserves. As a result, the global proppant and drilling mud industries are seeing changes in traditional supply chain patterns, exacerbated by new regulations and changes to product requirements, Emma Hughes, Deputy Editor and Nilima Choudhury, Chief Reporter, discover.
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Many countries in the MENA region are taking steps to diversify their economies away from almost sole reliance on oil and gas production and to pay greater attention to their reserves of metals and minerals. Dr Elizabeth Stephens, JLT Consulting,* looks into the political risk in MENA
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Oilfield minerals aid the process of extracting natural oil and gas from beneath Earth’s surface. For many years, lubricants such as bentonite and weighting agents like barytes (barite) have been used in conventional drilling while others, such as frac sand and sintered bauxite and kaolin, have seen demand increase as a boom in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) took off in the US and further afield. Ahead of IM’s Oilfield Minerals Outlook: Middle East, Emma Hughes, Deputy Editor, takes a look at some of the key minerals used in this end-market.
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A joint venture named Tianzhu Chemical Mining Corp. has been formed between Hao Hua Chemical Group (82%) and Rocky Mountains Industrial Development Company (18%) to mine barite for chemical and drilling-grade markets in the Tianzhu area of Guizhou, China.
Rocky Wu and Ian Wilson*
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Frac sand, a specific type of silica sand, is a durable, round grain, crush-resistant material produced for use in the hydraulic fracturing process (more widely known as fracking).
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A person suffering from a gastrointestinal disorder is likely to undergo an X-ray test. Any possible ailment can be clearly examined in the presence of heavy metal and an inert substance with the ability to absorb X-ray radiation to highlight any abnormalities. The name of this heavy material is barium sulphate (BaSO4), or barite.
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Recent titanium dioxide (TiO2) price hikes by major producers are unlikely to be accepted by pigment endusers, analysts told IM.
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As the global recession loosens its grip on the world economy, IM considers how bentonite has weathered the storm, looking at its most important end markets and their economic drivers
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Could shale gas provide the answer to global energy concerns? There are vast untapped resources in Europe, but fracking, the controversial method of extraction, could prove to be the stumbling block as Vasili Nicoletopoulos* explains
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Barytes up while graphite market softens and a rare earth platform hoves into view
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Mineral fillers are widely used in the plastics industry to enhance polymer properties and reduce ingredient costs. But, as Siddartha Roy demonstrates, over-use of fillers can be a false economy
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Dr Tran Kim Phuong outlines Vietnam’s principal barytes resources and key end markets, such as oilfield minerals, and discusses the country’s exploration plans to 2025
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As China shifts its focus from exports to domestic demand-led growth, Mongolia has an opportunity to supply China as well as neighbouring countries.
Alexander Czarnecki assesses the country’s industrial minerals potential and its attraction to foreign investors
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Bumpy road ahead for pigment producers as construction and automotive markets decline in the west but rise in the east, driven by an emerging Asian middle class
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Although there remain challenges, an abundance of untapped mineral deposits, increasing demand, and clear political will and support to develop the mineral sector has brought the Arabian Peninsula under the investor spotlight
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Even though the global downturn has slowed growth, North Africa is looking forward to realising its phosphate and other mineral resources
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Despite increasing attempts to pursue green technologies, the world’s thirst for oil and gas is set to ensure robust drilling mineral demand for decades
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Looking to fill the void: Filler grade barytes is suffering from the severe downturn in the auto industry leaving some with a demand shortfall of up to 50%. While times are hard, barytes diversity, outside of its dominant use as an oil drilling medium, is set to give necessary future stability to producers
by Simon Moores, Senior Assistant Editor
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Seeking Saudi mineral potential: A shift in national policy to diversify into non-oil resources has prompted domestic development and overseas interest in Saudi Arabia’s considerable wealth of untapped industrial minerals
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IM reports on the 4th High Performance Fillers for Polymer Composites conference, held 4-5 March 2009 in Barcelona, Spain, covering market outlook, new filler grades, plus developments in nanofillers and mineral processing
by Jessica Roberts, Assistant Editor
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China has switched to domestic demand priority status. Those relying on Chinese mineral exports should now be seeking alternative sources. Here we examine how China’s mineral industry has changed tack, its impact on world markets, how it will cope with the recession, and spotlight on barytes, bauxite, fluorspar, magnesite, paper minerals, and rare earths
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The EU’s position in global mineral supply, commodity trends, EU industries and policies, and future challenges are examined by Linda Hetherington and Andrew Bloodworth
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Innovations are expanding markets for mineral use in
plastics, demand for which is forecast to rise in the long
term. Alison Russell reviews trends in plastics usage and
end markets, and industrial mineral consumption
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A report on the 16th Functional Fillers conference organised by Intertech-Pira, held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on 22-24 September 2008, and comprised 16 papers spread over four sessions, plus optional seminars on plastic fillers selection and flame retardants.
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