Calcium Carbonate Market Trends
Growth Drivers
- Increasing Demand in Paints & Coatings Industry – For the production of powder coatings and emulsion paint, calcium carbonate is widely used in the paint industry. The calcium carbonate powder improves the paint's workability due to its excellent distribution and great whiteness. Industrial minerals have come to represent wealth, and calcium carbonate has taken on significant significance and found use in industry. One of the most useful inorganic fillers is calcium carbonate, which comes in a white, odorless powder. Calcium carbonate is a neutral substance that is soluble in acid but insoluble in water. Numerous paint and coating applications frequently use calcium carbonate powder because it acts as a diluting agent and can be used to either lessen or increase shine.
- Increasing Usage of Calcium Carbonate in the Agriculture Sector – Calcium carbonate is the mineral's primary constituent as the mineral is widely utilized to control soil acidity and provide calcium to plants for healthy nourishment. It helps plants and crops grow more effectively and aids in absorbing water from the environment, keeping the soil moist and pliable. In animal nutrition, calcium carbonate is used as a calcium supplement for the growth and strength of bones, as well as the general health of livestock, such as cattle.
- Growing Production of Paper- Approximately 299 million tons of paper all over the world are produced every year. In the alkaline papermaking technique, calcium carbonate is used as a filler material in the paper mill. Although kaolin was the material of choice during the initial stages of papermaking, calcium carbonate now dominated other filler materials used in papermaking. The need for brighter and heavier paper is the primary factor in calcium carbonate’s popularity.
Challenges
- Declining Paper Industry Due to Digitalization - Due to the widespread use of calcium carbonate as a filler in writing and printing paper, newspaper paper, and paper packaging applications, the sector is facing a challenge from the expanding digitalization. The growth of digitization and electronic publishing has had a significant negative impact on the paper sector. The transition to paperless communication and digital media in the majority of industrialized economies over the past five years has resulted in a decline in the worldwide paper sector.
Due to difficulties with oversupply, the market for newsprint paper has also drastically decreased in recent years. For instance, the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), a European association that represents the paper industry, stated that newsprint production decreased by 9.9% y-o-y while printing and writing sheets reduced by 11.5% in 2022 compared to 2021 as a result of machine closures and conversions.
- Side Effects of Calcium Carbonate in Human
- Rising Cost of Calcium Carbonate
