On July 9, international carbon black giant Bora Carbon Black issued a price increase news, pointing out that from August 1, all non-contract customers in Europe and Africa will increase the price of carbon black, each ton of carbon black products will be increased by 94 euros, giving the same reason for cost increases, enterprises in order to ensure profit margins.
Up to now, several major carbon black companies in the world have more or less raised the price of their products. The reason is that without exception, the increase of production costs is inseparable, and the “rise” of carbon black is more and more loud.
On April 13, Cabot announced that the price of some of its carbon black products would rise by about $100 per ton from June 1, while the price of other carbon black products would rise by 4%.
On April 26, Olilon Engineering Carbon Co. announced that it would raise the price of carbon black for rubber sold in North America from June 1, with an average price increase of $121 per ton.
Within a few days, Oliver issued another statement that, starting on August 1, it would raise the prices of all carbon black products sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by $82 to $107 per ton.
On June 21, American carbon black supplier Richardson announced that he would raise the price of all his carbon black products. The price increase is expected to be 110 US dollars per ton, which will be put into effect on August 1.
Looking at the domestic market, China Rubber Network intercepted the 2007 domestic N220 carbon black market quotation trend chart.
Since the beginning of last year, the price of this product has risen from 5256 yuan to 8769 yuan, the highest point, up 75.35%. Since the beginning of this year, the price of this product has fluctuated around 8000 yuan. Recently, the price has stabilized at about 8100 yuan, an increase of 54.1% compared with 5256 yuan.
According to industry analysis, the domestic carbon black market as a whole is in a state of overcapacity, but the capacity of Chinese and international carbon black enterprises is continuously expanding.
On February 28, 2018, Jinneng Science and Technology signed an agreement with the Management Committee of Qingdao West Coast New Area to invest in a new 8X60,000 tons/year green carbon black recycling project.
On March 31, the 100,000 tons/year carbon black project in Baohua, Suzhou started construction in Donghai Island, Zhanjiang City.
On June 8, two new production lines of 50,000 tons/year hard carbon black were put into operation in Anlun Chemical Industry, Shanxi Province. By the end of this year or early next year, the plant will continue to expand its total capacity to 450,000 tons/year, making it the largest carbon black production base in the world.
Based on the annual reports of four listed carbon black enterprises in China in 2017, the annual business income has increased by more than half compared with the previous year, and the net profit has also increased substantially. Among them, the profit growth rate of 410% of Black Cat shares is the highest among listed rubber enterprises.
From this we can draw a preliminary conclusion that as an important raw material for tire and product production, the demand for carbon black products has increased greatly with the recovery of rubber industry. The rising prices of products seem to be able to effectively offset the increasing costs. At the same time, the hot market has greatly enhanced the confidence of producers in the industry.
This is also evidenced by a series of developments of international rubber giants. On May 14, Indian carbon black producer Philips (PCBL) announced that it would build a 150,000-ton green carbon black plant in Chennai and plan to expand its capacity by 50,000 tons in Gujarat.
On May 23, Cabot announced that it would continue to increase the production capacity of its global carbon black plant. It planned to expand a total of 300,000 tons of capacity in factories in Indonesia and other places, bringing its global production capacity to about 2.5 million tons.
On June 26, Japan Donghai Carbon Corporation and Richard Sen Carbon Black Company of the United States reached an acquisition agreement. The company will buy 100% of Richard Sen’s shares for about $310 million. Its total carbon black production capacity will reach 937,000 tons, ranking the fifth largest supplier of carbon black in the world after China’s black cat shares.
At the end of June, Bola Carbon Black, which has increased its capacity greatly after the acquisition of Columbia Carbon Black Company, has completed the renaming of its enterprises. With the premise of convenient unified management and cost reduction, the company also hopes that all its businesses can use the “Birla” brand to further enhance brand awareness and industry competitiveness.
