Year in Review 2013: Just when we couldn't sink any further, we did

• Autores: Kasia Patel, Siobhan Lismore-Scott
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 556, 2014 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Enero)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Meanwhile, in kaolin markets (p47), the ongoing consolidation of the industry was questioned in 2013 as Imerys' purchase of the last independent UK kaolin producer, Goonvean, was referred to the Competition Commission (CC). After months of waiting, and a provisional ruling that the merger could lead a loss of competition for some UK customers, the CC finally ruled that as the merged company would be the only UK supplier to tableware manufacturers, it would be subject to a price control.

    The fact that India makes up one third of the phosphate customer base remained the biggest issue faced by the market, which was exacerbated by the devaluation of the rupee and the price subsidy issue. Towards the end of the year, the situation only worsened with Uralkali's shake-up of the potash market causing distributor caution regarding potash to spill over into phosphates, causing further delays to purchases.

    In bauxite and alumina markets, 2013 saw the emergence of a new tabular alumina producer in Zili Corp. (see IM December issue) and a move away from fused alumina in preference for the tabular variety. Bauxite markets, meanwhile, remained dogged by lacklustre demand, but also uncertainty as Indonesia moved to ban all exports of raw mineral ores and China is looking to significantly clamp down on those companies exporting at a lesser value than bought on the market (see IM November 2014).