silica are mainly used in various applications such as rubber, plastics, agriculture & feed, food & beverages, and oral care. In these applications, it serves different purposes; for instance, in tyres, it is used as a performance additive; in personal care products, it acts as a matting agent to avoid skin from appearing glossy after application of cosmetics; in food and beverages, it acts as a clarification agent for beer and helps remove impurities. In plastics, speciality silica is used during polymerisation process as an anti-blocking agent to prevent polymer layers from sticking to each other. Over the last couple of years, use of specialty silica in manufacturing green tyres has increased considerably, a trend that’s expected to fuel global demand during the forecast period.
Global specialty silica market is estimated to account for US$ 5.6 Bn in 2016, and expand at a CAGR of 5.8% in terms of value during the forecast period, 2016-2026. In volume terms, global demand for speciality silica is expected to stand at 3,188.1 KT (thousand tonnes) by the end of 2016.
Market Dynamics
Growth of the specialty silica market is mainly driven by increasing application of specialty silica in the automotive sector. Use of speciality silica as a performance additive in tyres leads to better rolling resistance and traction, making the vehicle more fuel efficient as compared to the conventional tyres. In the electronics industry, increasing use of specialty silica for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) and to absorb moisture from electronic products is driving its demand globally.
However, specialty silica market is highly dependent on its end-use industries, some of which shows cyclical behaviour. In such circumstances, to maintain continuity in revenue and profit generation is expected to be one of the major challenges for specialty silica industry leaders.
Global Specialty Silica Market Taxonomy
Global specialty silica market is segmented as the following:
By Product Type
By Application
By Region
By product type, the market is divided into precipitated silica, fumed silica, fused silica, colloidal silica and silica gel. In terms of value, precipitated silica segment is expected to dominate the market through the forecast period.
By application, global specialty silica market is segmented into rubber, plastics, ink and coatings, electrical and electronics, agriculture and feed, food and beverages, personal care and others. In terms of value, rubber application segment is estimated to account for more than half of the total market share of global speciality silica market by 2016, and is anticipated to remain dominant through the forecast period.