Additional information on Zircon Flour
The main applications for zircon sand are in ceramics, refractories, TV glass and the production of zirconium oxides (zirconias) and zirconium chemicals. The production of glaze emulsions in the ceramics industry was the greatest consumer in 2008 at around 600,000mts. Refractories use both zircon sand and zirconia and consumed in the region of 200,000 mts. The foundry industry used in the region of 150,000mts in 2008 with the USA, Europe and now China being the biggest users. Around 90,000mts of zircon was used in the production of TV glass with Asia now accounting for 90% of the global output. The key growth area has been in the production of added value zirconium oxides (zirconias) and zirconium chemicals. The global capacity for zircon sand now stands at around 1.25 million tonnes a year with Australia remaining the largest producer at around 450,000mts a year and South Africa second on 430,000mts. The USA is the third largest producer at around 200,000mts and Indonesia has increased its output in the last few years to a level of 100,000mts. Iluka Resources of Australia is the largest producer of zircon sand with 9 mines in Australia and 2 mines in the USA. Iluka tends to set the benchmark in global pricing for zircon sand and at the start of 2008 the price was at USD 800-850/mt CIF China and ended the year at USD 680-900/mt CIF China. China is the largest importer of zircon sand at a level of around 500,000mts in 2008 and this has been growing at an annual rate of 10% a year for the last three years. The import value for China in 2008 was around USD 400 million. China has a small output of zircon sand relative to its consumption. The annual output is around 20,000 mts. The use of Chinese zircon sand has been limitd by the higher radioactivity levels which makes it unsuitable for many applications. The global supply and demand of zircon sand was thought to be fairly balanced in 2008 at 1.25 m tonnes. The level of growth has been stable at around 4% a year in the last 5 years but with the global economic slow down it is thought demand will remain flat or decline slightly to 1.20m tonnes in 2009. New zircon sand mines are scheduled to come on stream over the next 2 years in Australia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Gambia, Russia, South Africa, India and Canada. These mines could introduce a further 150-2000,000mts of zircon sand per year. With some decline in demand and increased output, the prive of zircon sand is likely to remain in the region of USD 800-900/mt during 209 but drop below this level in 2010 to levels of perhaps USD600-700/mt.
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