Think alumina, think Almatis.
Barbara Steuler , Almatis
Specialty alumina’s positioned for growth ?
Specialty Alumina positioned for growth ?
• Specialty Alumina in higher-performance applications
• Demand Driver and Regional differences in usage
• High-end markets pushing production and the quality
Barbara Steuler
2
Facts about Almatis
• Global Market Leader of Specialty Alumina
• More than 100 years of alumina experience
• Key markets: Refractory, Ceramics, Polishing
• Complete Specialty Alumina Portfolio
• 10 manufacturing locations worldwide
• 6 major sales and supply chain centers
• 6 application & development labs
• 1,150 employees
• Fully integrated manufacturer with own alumina refinery
• Sales in 2014: ~ 560 Mio. US $
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Our Locations Global manufacturing and supply network – closer to our customers
Campinas
Dalton Bauxite
Leetsdale + Neville
Rotterdam
Ludwigshafen
Frankfurt
Falta
Kolkata
Qingdao Iwakuni
Tokyo
Bauxite, AR Dalton, GA Leetsdale + Neville, PA Rotterdam, NL Ludwigshafen, D Falta, IN Qingdao, CN Iwakuni, JP
Burnside
Burnside, LA
Plant
Application Lab
Sales Office
Refinery
• A Niche Market
• Why ‘Specialty Alumina’
• Markets and Industries
Specialty alumina usage in higher-performance applications
5
Specialty Alumina - A Niche Market
Bayer
Refining
Bauxite
& other Specialty
Producers
Refractories
~1,700,000 t
Ceramics &
Catalyst
~700,000 t
Abrasives &
Polishing
~400,000 t
Specialty
hydrate
~700,000 t*
Specialty
Calcined
Alumina
~2,800,000 t
Commodity
hydrate
~3,300,000 t*
ATH
SGA
*) Volume view (Al2O3)
Aluminium
~100,000,000 t SGA usage*
6
Products and applications are sophisticated with high technology requirements
Unique Characteristics Demanding Technology
Many value adding processing steps
State-of-the-art processing know how
Strict control of the production processes
High product quality and consistency
Educated staff with high process
competence.
Application expertise for high-end markets
Tailored products for individual uses
Innovation, R&D
Heat resistance and thermal stability
Electrical insulation & dielectric strength
Corrosion and wear resistance
High mechanical strength
Abrasiveness
….
Unique and value adding
characteristics for versatile
applications
Outstanding cost/performance ratio
compared to other materials
Why ‘Specialty’ Aluminas ?
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Markets and Industries
Many product solutions across diverse industries with huge variety of end uses R
efr
ac
tori
es:
Heat, corrosion and wear resistance
• High alumina aggregates: Tabular, Magnesium Aluminate Spinel, BSA 96
• Calcined and reactive aluminas
• Calcium aluminate cements and binders
Ce
ram
ics
Superior mechanical, electrical, thermal, and chemical properties
• Specialty medium to low soda calcined aluminas
• Thermally reactive and very high surface are alumina
• Low soda tabular and
Po
lis
hin
g
& A
bra
siv
es
Cut and Shine
• Microcrystalline to macrocrystalline polishing calcined aluminas
• WFA for abrasives market
0.7 million MT
1.7 million MT
15%
0.4 million MT
60%
25%
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Refractories
Refractories are formulated for the harsh conditions they will face in service.
These include applications in the production of iron and steel, cement, petrochemicals, non-ferrous, metal, glass and others.
Aggregates are the backbone of a refractory formulation and provide thermal and dimensional stability, corrosion resistance
The matrix products, such as calcined and reactive alumina, optimize the particle packaging and increase the refractoriness of the product.
Heat, corrosion and wear resistance
End Use
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Ceramics
Highly consistent properties of the specialty alumina ensuring efficient, defect-
free technical ceramics manufacturing
Tightly controlled calcination degree, purity level, the crystal shape, the
grindability and particle size distribution are critical to the end-use application
Many tailor-made products are available to meet the individual requirements
Superior mechanical, electrical, thermal, and chemical properties
End Use
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Polishing
Alumina is used for lapping and polishing including metal, glass and stone, car cleaners, brake linings, electronic parts, household cleaners...
Accurately controlled purity levels, crystalline morphology and particle size distributions ensure the consistency necessary for optimum results
Calcination defines the crystal structure & size impacting the cut and polishing properties
Key characteristics : Cut and shine
End Use
• Regional differences
• Trends & Drivers
Market Growth Driver and Demanding Applications
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Global Refractory Market Specialty alumina for high-end refractories - a growing niche within Refractories due to shift to high-end steel
by Geography by Application by Product Category
3% 12%
5%
29%
18%
24%
9% Reactives
CAC
Spinel
Tabular
WFA
Standard Ca.
SGA
16%
30%
5%
14% 3%
32%
Americas
Europe
India
Japan
SE Asia
China
• Overall Growth for the refractory industry is mainly driven by steel
• Huge diversity of products needed for premium refractory performance
• Total consumption on specialty alumina for refractories is still low in China
73%
13%
4% 2% 2% 4% 2%
steel
cement
non-ferrous
glass
ceramics
chemicals
others
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Applications getting more demanding A drive towards higher quality steel in China and India requires
higher performance refractories which are consuming more specialty alumina
1.3 - 1.51.2 - 1.4 1.2 - 1.4
0.7 - 0.9 0.7 - 0.9
0.5 0.5
JP EU US RU Central Europe CH IN
Kg A
l2O
3 c
onsum
ptio
n /
MT s
teel
Steel technology characteristics per region
Most advanced
technology
Very advanced
technology
Developing
technology
Developing
technology
Large
growth
potential
111 170 89 71 813 83
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Refractories Trends & Drivers
The rising penetration of high-quality steel production in emerging markets
drives demand for higher purity refractories
Technology shift from bricks to monolithic castables ( lower labor costs)
Advanced
Steel
Non ferrous metal
Cement
Glass & Ceramics
Increased demand for infrastructure
Continuous growth for specialty glass and
specialty ceramics
Aluminium and tightly controlled alloys expected to grow
driven by automotive, aerospace, beverage-can
consumption
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Global Ceramics Market Huge diversification with tightly defined and consistent properties ensuring
efficient, defect-free ceramic manufacturing
by Region by Application
Advanced
Environmental
Specialties
Spark Plug
High Voltage
Wear Parts
Catalyst
Tiles
LCD Glass
High value ~ 45%
by Product Category
high purity
reactives
low soda
specialty
Tabular
WFA
medium soda
standard
High value ~ 45 %
Americas
Europe
Japan
India
SE Asia
China
• More than hundreds of end uses in ceramics part manufacturing
• Many custom-made product for the individual ceramics application
• Stronger growth rates and shift of the manufacturing into the emerging markets
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Alumina had been at the forefront of materials innovation for decades and growth
will continue with more demanding applications and growth in emerging regions
Advanced ceramics /Structural ceramics
• longer life times, higher speed/pressure and temperatures
• More efficient and cheaper processing
Environmental ceramics
• Filters: tighter legislation for emissions
• Catalytic substrates: thinner wall (porous ceramics) for better fuel
efficiency and lower backpressure.
Electronics & Electrical
• Substrates: higher power density, but smaller pieces
• Spark Plugs: higher performance, longer lasting, smaller & fewer
plugs per engine
High Voltage
• Increased power needs, especially in the developing countries.
Continued growth with established Markets
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LCD glass
• higher precision and flexible LCD‘s
• For TV sector: even larger glass panels.
Waste Water Treatment
• Tighter control of pore sizes of filters
• Throughputs are requested to increase (efficiency)
LED
• U.S. and EU legislation pushes for LED manufacturing
• High purity alumina is needed at lower cost
Renewable Energy
• Requires higher performing materials in gas turbines or
stationary energy storage devices
Growth by newer Technologies & Legislations Technology continues to evolves and provide the world with a faster, smarter and greener lifestyle at the same time demanding higher energy efficiency
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Quality, Support and Innovation
• Consistent premium quality enable efficient processing and defect free end-use products
• Extensive knowledge about customers processes and products required
• R&D and application labs are supporting end-user with new product solutions
• Corporation with customers and universities on specific product solution
• Continuous improvement on technologies & process knowledge
Alumina expertise and customer relationship, an important element for growth
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Specialty Alumina is a Memory Chip
Feedstock pre-defines the performance of the specialty alumina in the end-use
Backward Integration allows complete control of the Value Chain
Bayer Refinery
Feedstock
• Digestion
• Clarification
• Precipitation
• Calcination
Specialty
Processing
• Purification • Calcination
• Sintering
• Crushing
• Milling
• Classification
Specialty Alumina
Products
• ATH
• Calcined Alumina
• Reactive Alumina
• Tabular Alumina
• Spinel
• High Alumina Cements
End Use
Applications
• Refractory
• Ceramics
• Polishing
• Abrasives
• Chemicals
• Adsorbents & Catalysts
Innovation Power
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Quality starts at the Specialty Alumina Refinery Backward integration provides full control on the critical feedstock properties
and higher efficiency on the entire specialty alumina production processes
Bauxite Digestion Filtration Precipitation Calcination
control of Na2O, SiO2, FeO3, CaO and important trace impurities
Thermal reactivity and grindability
PSD , morphology
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Specialty Alumina Processing Know How The properties of the alumina feedstock are most critical to the all further
processing steps in specialty alumina processing :
Na2O, SiO2,
FeO3, CaO
Grindability
Purification Calcination Milling & Sizing Tabular Sintering Classification
Morphology,
surface area
crystal size
Fired Density
Cystal
Structure
PSD
Thermal
reactivity
Calcines UG Calcined SG Tabular
Defined
Particle Sizes
Tabular sized
Purity
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Specialty alumina positioned for growth !
SUMMARY & Conclusion
• Longer term growth expected to be at about 3 - 4 %
• Fueled by higher demand driven by quality in BRIC countries > 5%
• More modest growth in Europe, NA and Japan 2-3%
• Products and applications are getting more demanding and
sophisticated with higher technology requirements
• High-end steel qualities in the emerging countries, is expected to
lead to further increases in demand for high-quality refractories
• Specialty Alumina's will see further increase in demand as
alternative to natural raw materials
• Alumina Ceramics and Polishing applications provide many
opportunities for custom made innovations
• Industry becomes increasingly specialized and expanded
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Thank you for your attention!
Think alumina, think Almatis.
