Attendees discuss how market participants will secure supply for the coming year, and how prices are expected to perform going forward.

Raw material supply and market price performance were once again the leading topics of conversation among delegates at the 61st International Colloquium on Refractories in Aachen, Germany, in September.

As was the case in 2017, raw materials were under the spotlight at this year’s refractories event.

Considering the restrictions on mining and production operations in China – the largest producer of several key refractory raw materials such as bauxite, fused alumina, magnesia and graphite – attendees in Aachen are assessing what the future holds for supply.

«It’s the second year in a row that we’ve talked about, essentially, only raw materials,» one user said on the sidelines of the event. «If it’s not about bauxite, it’s about magnesia or it’s about alumina. But there is no running away from it.»

«The only consolation is that everyone is in the same situation because the changes are structural. The handicap is our common denominator right now,» another delegate said.

Consumers have actively been trying to respond to the sourcing issues in China by seeking alternative origins or by working with alternative materials.

This has not always led to workable solutions, however, because the tightness has, in some cases, spread to multiple markets, generating short supply and rising prices across the board.

«When bauxite was getting short and expensive last year, consumers tried to shift to andalusite instead,» one buyer said. «Of course, andalusite ended up being short and expensive too. What we hope is not having more of the same next year.»

Fastmarkets IM assessed the price of calcined bauxite 85% at $420-435 per tonne, fob Xingang, on September 20, compared with $410-420 per tonne on September 6.

The price of calcined bauxite 86% reached $435-445 per tonne fob Xingang on the same date, up from $420-440 per tonne earlier in the year.

The buyer pointed to similar situations with white-fused alumina and tabular alumina – when the rising demand for the first triggered a shortage of the latter as well during 2017.

The ongoing perception of impending shortage could also be a factor supporting market prices going forward, several attendees said, with uncertainty becoming the new norm.

«How much are the supply issues overplayed when it comes to contracting?» one trader said. «We know of China and of how serious what is happening there, don’t get me wrong. But is this creating knee-jerk reactions by market players? That may be.»

Cases of Damage to Refractory Linings and Ways to Avoid Them

New methods and the exchange of experience on reconditioning refractory linings in the event of their damage were the focus of the programme. A lot of scope was consciously given for the important technical exchange between attendees. The venue of the symposium, Tivoli, provided a charming setting for this and especially for the evening event with the Dresdner Salondamen, a musical ensemble.

Alkali resistance of refractories plays a role wherever alkali loaded gases or dusts have the chance to be deposited in the structure and to react with the refractory material, e.g. dust chambers or combustion chambers.

En esta ocasión nos centramos, entre otros, en la traducción del libro “Refractory Engineering”, tema del que  llevamos unas cuantas reuniones hablando y que parece que finalmente se va a va a llevar a cabo, debido a la importante que creemos que tiene disponer del libro en Castellano.

Otro de los temas que se confirmó fue la II Edición del Curso de Ingeniería de Refractarios, curso que tendrá lugar en Sevilla del 11 al 14 de marzo, esperamos que esta edición tenga la misma acogida que la anterior.

Se trataron temas contables, haciendo un repaso al año y comprobando como nos encontramos con respecto al presupuesto que se realizó para el 2018 y analizando las desviaciones producidas, aunque hasta el momento no son muchas. Como viene siendo habitual se trató el tema de las cuotas y la necesidad de reajustar las mismas.

Dentro del marco internacional estuvimos hablando sobre la comisiones técnicas y de medio ambiente de la PRE que se han llegado a cabo y el impacto de lo allí tratado para nuestro país.

El Presidente quiso dar la bienvenida a Anfre a Manuel  García de Navarro Sic, persona que sustituye a Juan Valledor como representante de la empresa en ANFRE.

Al finalizar la reunión pudimos relajarnos y charlar en la comida ofrecida por ANFRE

Una vez más queremos dar las gracias a todos los asociados por seguir creyendo en ANFRE.

Os esperamos en Febrero.

Imports for the mineral increased in both China and Guyana due to demand from steelmaking end-markets improving, boosting demand for refractory products.

Imports of refractory-grade calcined bauxite in the US increased almost 50% last year against 2016 volumes due to the improvement in the refractories sector following growth in steel output, according to customs data released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

US imports of refractory-grade calcined bauxite in 2017 reached 127,000 tonnes, or 47% above the previous year when the country took 86,500 tonnes, as per US Census Bureau figures.

China and Guyana were the two countries producing bauxite for export to the US. Some 56% of total US bauxite imports came from China (71,700 tonnes) while the rest (55,300 tonnes) came from Guyana.

Demand for material from both origin countries increased in 2017, with imports from China rising 34% year on year and imports from Guyana almost doubling its shipments, posting a 96% growth on an annual basis.

While small volumes of material originated from India (3,290 tonnes) and Brazil (547 tonnes) in 2016, no shipments were reported from either country last year.

Rising steel output across all producing regions in 2017 was a crucial factor behind boosting demand for products and driving revenues, major refractories producers, such as Vesuvius and RHI Magnesita, said.

Availability of bauxite is currently tight on the international market, following a series of restrictions at mining and processing facilities in China’s Shanxi province.

This led to an increase in prices for Chinese refractory-grade bauxite, which are still holding at strong levels.
Industrial Minerals assessed refractory-grade bauxite 85% at $450-460 per tonne fob Xingang as of March 22 assessment, up 62.5% from $270-290 per tonne assessed on March 23 of last year.

Refractory grade bauxite 86% held firm week on week at $470-480 per tonne, up 63.8% on an annual basis, while 87% refractory-grade bauxite was assessed at $490-500 per tonne up 58.4% from the same time last year.

Higher purity refractory-grade bauxite 88% stood at $500-520 per tonne as of March 22, up 47.8% on an annual basis.