| GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Clay Building Materials and Clay Refractories market. The global market for Clay Building Materials and Clay Refractories is forecast to reach US$52.2 billion by the year 2017, driven by the rising infrastructure and industrial activity in emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Further, growth in key end-user segments, such as steel and non-metallic minerals, is expected to propel the demand for clay refractories in the near future.
Follow us on LinkedIn – In the clay building materials and clay refractories market, the maximum impact of economic downturn was borne by the relatively mature and saturated western markets of North America, Japan, and Europe, which displayed high double-digit negative growth rates. Developing markets, specifically Asia-Pacific, was the beacon of light, showing marginal fallback in annual growth rates. The Middle East and Latin America also displayed below average performances with sales margins falling much below the expected lines. After witnessing a significant amount of decline in demand during the recessionary period, the global clay building materials and clay refractories picked up pace in 2010. Going forwards, the demand for clay refractories is expected to witness robust growth, driven by the increasing usage of high alumina-based and other high-value materials. Growth prospects are high for monolithic castables and preformed shapes that feature superior performance and flexibility than other refractory forms.
Significant growth potential is seen in Zircon/zirconia, silicon carbide extra-high alumina, and other more specialized refractory materials that provide strong performance in specific applications. Monolithics are forecast to register above-average growth, with their demand outpacing that of bricks and shapes. With the development of high quality and enduring refractories, a strong market orientation is seen towards value-based growth as against production-based growth. However, since the steel industry is the major consumer of refractories, the development is expected to be subdued owing to the slow growth forecasts for steel production. On the brighter side, the market for non-metallic mineral products is expected to account for a major portion of the refractory demand in the near future, spurred by the increase in manufacture of mineral products, such as ceramics and cement.
Housing starts is considered as the major growth propeller for the clay bricks market. Although the global residential building market is moderate, a growing baby-boomer population indicates that less amount will be expended on new house building but more on remodeling activities. As the clay bricks market is highly reliant on the housing construction trends, market players are restricting themselves to minimal capacity expansions. Besides, as other advanced building materials are substituting clay bricks, manufacturers are focusing more on production segregation to contain semi-variable and fixed costs.
Asia-Pacific would continue to remain the undisputed leading global market, as stated by the new market research report on Clay Building Materials and Clay Refractories backed by the rapid pace of infrastructure and industrial development in the region, especially in China and India. China is a major market for refractories, with its huge infrastructure and transportation needs. There are more than 2,400 refractory manufacturers owned by diverse parties, including government, privately owned, and JVs, among others. On the other hand, the usage of clay building materials and clay refractories in developed markets, such as North America, Japan, and Europe continues to decline, owing to the growing trend of substituting clay-based building materials with alternate products, such as timber, PVC tiles, concrete, and stones.
The global market is broadly segmented by clay building materials and clay refractories. Clay Building Materials represents the largest product segment. With respect to growth potential, the Clay Refractories segment is poised for the highest CAGR of 7.4% through 2017. The increasing usage of high-priced, superior performance refractories is expected to fuel the overall demand for refractories in value terms.
Key participants profiled in the report include Austral Brick Company Ltd., Boral Bricks Inc., Boral Limited, Brampton Brick Limited, CRH Plc., Glen-Gery Corp., CSR Limited, Florida Tile Industries Inc., Hanson Building Products UK, Lanka Floortiles Plc., Mohawk Industries Inc, Dal-Tile Corp., Monier Group GmbH, Pacific Coast Building Products Inc, RHI AG, TRL Krosaki Refractories Limited, US Tile, Vesuvius Group SA, Wienerberger AG, Baggeridge Brick Plc, among others.
The research report titled “Clay Building Materials and Clay Refractories: A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of industry and product overview, market trends/issues, product innovations, recent industry activity, and profiles of market players worldwide. Analysis and overview is provided for the period 2009-2017 for major geographic markets, such as the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. Market analytics are provided in terms of value for product segments including Clay Building Materials (Clay Bricks, Floor & Wall Tiles, and Other Clay Products), and Clay Refractories. The study provides historic data for an insight into market evolution over the period 2003 through 2008. |
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