Global Abrasives Market to Gain $12.1B by 2022

The growth of the abrasive products market, globally and regionally, will mirror the national and regional output growth rates, with growth in the emerging markets clocking higher growth rates than those in advanced economies. In pure dollar terms, the industry is expected to grow by more than $12.1 billion from 2017 through 2022. In a new report, Abrasive Materials, Products, Applications and Global Markets, BCC Research estimates this global market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% from 2017 through 2022 to reach $51.9 billion by 2022.

The global abrasives market is still highly fragmented, with no players commanding more than a 5% share. About 35 companies in the market segment produce revenues between $100 million and $1 billion. These companies include 3M, Alteo, Buehler, Camel Grinding Wheels, Dr. Schulze, Ehwa Diamond, Fujian, Hermes, Imerys, Jason, Klingspor, Lapmaster, Mirka, Noritake, Pferd, Saint-Gobain, Tyrolit, and Washington Mills.

Abrasives are a well-established global market with a long history of products, technologies and slowly evolving market trends. Unique and novel technologies are continuing to make inroads into the mundane and well-established abrasive product and technology market. Companies that are championing these technologies are betting on the reduction in lifetime costs for abrasive product end users despite the fact that the upfront costs are higher. These have long-term influences in the marketplace, and market penetration of these technologies occurs downward from the high-value end applications.

Research Highlights

The North American and European markets are expected to achieve CAGRs of 4.2% and 3.2%, respectively, through 2022.

The average price for natural abrasives in the United States is projected in the $175 per metric ton range by 2022.

No major policy changes are expected among central banks, which will encourage stable growth.

The growth in electric vehicles is a significant long-term market change that will impact the abrasive market.

“The industry is growing close to global GDP growth, with higher than GDP growth in the developing countries and slower rates in the developed countries. This is partly because the abrasive industry is closely tied to the manufacturing industry, yet it’s disconnected from the service sector industry and only loosely tied with agrarian industries. Thus, the abrasive industry tends to play a higher part of a country’s total GDP when the country is going through the mechanization manufacturing-driven growth phase,” said Vijay Subramanian, BCC Research analyst.