Technical Ceramics Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

Technical Ceramics Market Overview

The Technical Ceramics market size is estimated to reach US$11.5 billion by 2027 after growing at a CAGR of around 5.7% from 2022 to 2027. Technical ceramics are high performance ceramics which are rich in mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. Such ceramics are made through sintering process by using advance materials like aluminum oxide and zirconia. The hey is used in technical applications ranging from industrial manufacturing, metal processing to biomedical application where bio ceramics is used in making implants & bone fillers. These ceramics are of four major types namely oxide ceramics, non-oxide ceramics, silicate ceramics and perovskites. Technical ceramics being rich in mechanical and thermal properties are majorly used in automotive, electronic, metallurgy and medical sector. Hence, they also find high applicability in power sector where they are used in wind turbine blades. Factors like an increase in level of steel production, growing production of automotive and high sales of electronic equipment like semiconductors are driving technical ceramic market growth. However, the expensive production process of non-oxide ceramics leads to high manufacturing cost, which can limit its production by small scale manufacturers. This can hamper technical ceramics market growth.

COVID-19 Impact

COVID-19 decreased the productivity of various end use industries of technical ceramics such as automotive, electronics and medical. Technical ceramics are used in heat resistant ceramics parts of automotive engines like valves & crankshaft, as raw material in semiconductor manufacturing and as bio ceramics they are used to make dental implants & crowns. The lockdown implemented all across the world caused lack of availability of raw materials due to which the industrial productivity went down. For instance, according to European Automobile Manufacture Association, in 2020, production of passenger cars decreased by 23.3% in EU to 10.8 million cars, and by 22.3% in the whole Europe. According to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, in Q1 of 2020, worldwide sales of semiconductor decreased by 3.6%. Also, according to American Dental Association, in 2020, the dental practice revenue in the US decreased to 6% as average production for practices was down by 3.1% compared to 2019. Such decrease in productivity of the major end user of technical ceramics reduced its usage in them, which negatively impacted technical ceramics industry growth.

Report Coverage

The “Technical Ceramics Market Report – Forecast (2022 – 2027)”, by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the technical ceramics industry.

Key Takeaways

• Asia-Pacific dominates the technical ceramics industry, as the region consists of major economies like China and India which consists of leading end-use industries of technical ceramics such as automotive and electronics.
• In medical sector, non-oxide ceramics like silicon nitride due to its high mechanical and surface chemicals properties is being used for interbody spinal fusion cages and for total joint arthroplasty.
• Chemical applications of technical ceramics are found in seals, impellers, and tubes, where they are placed in rotating machinery to prevent any leakage between the shaft and pump casing.

Figure: Asia-Pacific Technical Ceramics Market Revenue, 2021-2027 (US$ Billion)

Technical Ceramics Market Segment Analysis – By Ceramic Type

Non-oxide ceramics held a significant share in technical ceramics market in 2021, with a share of over 31%. Non-oxide ceramics demonstrate a high share of covalence bonding which provides them with very good mechanical properties, even when being used at high temperatures. Hence due to such unique properties, non-oxide ceramics like silicon carbide has high applicability in automotive and electronic sector. Rapid development in these sectors on account of growing advancements has increased their productivity. For instance, according to European Automobile Manufacture Association, in first nine months of 2021, passenger car registrations went up by 8.0% to 11 million units and car output increased by only 3.1%. Also, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, in December 2020, global sales of semiconductor were US$39.2 billion showing 8.3% increase compared to the December 2019. Non-oxide ceramics are used in automotive engine parts, whereas it is used in making semiconductor rings. The increase in automotive production and consumption of semiconductor will lead to more usage of non-oxide ceramics like silicon carbide. This will positively impact technical ceramics industry growth.

Technical Ceramics Market Segment Analysis – By End Use Industry

Automotive sector held a significant share in technical ceramics market in 2021, with a share of over 19%%. Technical ceramics especially non-oxide ceramics like silicon nitride and silicon carbide finds major application in automotive sector. Silicon nitride is used for making engine components like rocker arm pads, turbochargers, and exhaust gas control valves while silicon carbide is used in semiconductors batteries and heat exchanger in e-vehicles. Technological advancements and rapid urbanization have increased the consumption of manual and electric vehicles, which has positively impacted the usage of non-oxide ceramics in automotive sector. For instance, as per European Automobile Manufacturer Association, in 2021, the new passenger car registration in the first ten months increased up to 2.2% with an increase shown in European Union markets like Italy showed 12.7%, Spain showed 5.6% and France showed 3.1%. Also, another report by European Automobile Manufacturing Association, in 2021, sales of new battery electric vehicle increased by 9.1% while Plug-in hybrid vehicles sales rose by 8.9%. An increase in production and consumption of such automotive segments will lead to more usage of non-oxide ceramics in them, resulting positive growth for technical ceramics industry.

Technical Ceramics Market Segment Analysis – By Geography

Asia-Pacific held the largest share in technical ceramics market in 2021 with a share of over 32%. Major economies such as China, India, Japan and South Korea have increased their investments in various industrial sectors like automotive, electronics and metallurgy, which has increased their industrial productivity. For instance, according to International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturer, in 2021, Asia produced 46.7 million units of motor vehicles with China making 26 million units and India 4.3 million. Also, according to National Bureau of Statistics, in 2021, China produced 359.4 billion ICs, on account of which the semiconductor output of the country increased by 33.3%. Further, according to Japanese Iron and Steel Federation, in 2021, crude steel production of Japan was 96,333.4 thousand metric tones compared to 83,186.5 thousand metric tones produced in 2020. Oxide ceramics and non-oxide ceramics are used in making electrical equipments like semiconductors, in automotive engine parts and as fuel in steel production process. The rise in productivity of these sectors will create more usage of such technical ceramics, resulting a positive growth for technical ceramics industry in Asia-Pacific region.

Technical Ceramics Market Drivers

Increase in Steel Production Volume

Non-oxide ceramics like silicon carbide when dissolved in basic oxygen furnace is used as a fuel in making steel and also it has lower emissions due to low levels of trace elements. The increase in steel production volume on account of growing demand from major end user of steels like construction and automotive, has positively impacted the usage of technical ceramics as raw material in steel production. For instance, according to World Steel Association, in June 2021, world crude steel production for the 64 countries was 167.9 million tones (Mt) in June 2021, an 11.6% increase compared to June 2020. Increase in steel production will lead to more usage of non-oxide ceramics as fuel in steel production process. This will boost growth of technical ceramics industry. 

Increase in Worldwide Sales of Semiconductor

Technical ceramics made from aluminum oxide have rich electrical properties like high thermal shock resistance, ability to work at high temperature, and super chemical inertness. Semiconductors made from technical ceramics like oxide ceramics and non-oxide ceramics, processes electricity more efficiently, and due to this benefit, they are used in e-vehicles and electronic equipments like computers. The increase in the consumption of semiconductors by such end users has increased its global sales volume. For instance, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Organization, in 2021, global semiconductor industry sales totaled US$555.9 billion in 2021, showing an increase of 26.2% compared to the 2020 total of $440.4 billion. Increase in semiconductor consumption will lead to increase in its production level in order to meet the growing demand. This will positively impact the usage of technical ceramics in semiconductor production, which will boost technical ceramics industry growth.

Technical Ceramics Market Challenge

High Manufacturing Cost of Technical Ceramics

The production process of certain technical ceramics such as non-oxide ceramics is very expensive, as in order to eliminate oxygen from cure environment of non-oxides, a longer heat treatment is required. Hence, for longer heat treatment, high temperature furnace is used which has higher cost compared to low temperature furnace. Moreover, longer heat treatment leads to more cycle time of high temperature furnace which increases its maintenance cost also. The high cost of such raw material used in production of non-oxide ceramics increases the overall manufacturing cost. This can affect non-oxide ceramics production by small scale manufacturers which can have negative impact on the growth of technical ceramics industry.

Technical Ceramics Industry Outlook

The companies to develop a strong regional presence and strengthen their market position, continuously engage in mergers and acquisitions. In technical ceramics market report, the technical ceramics top 10 companies are:

1. Albemarle Corporation
2. Morgan Advance Material PLC
3. McDanel Advance Ceramic Technologies
4. Saint Gobain
5. KCC Corporation
6. Hitech Ceramics
7. Rauschert GmBH
8. Azo Materials
9. Diamorph
10. Xiamen Innovacera Advanced Material

Recent Developments

• In 2022, Tata Steel Advanced Materials executed a share purchase cum shareholders' agreement for acquisition of 90% equity stake in Ceramat (CPL) a manufacturer of advance ceramics.
• In 2021, Superior Technical Ceramics (STC), one of the most experienced technical ceramics manufacturers in US, acquired IJ Research and this acquisition will expand STC’s ceramic offering in growing industrial sectors.
• In 2019, Kyocera Fineceramics GmbH successfully completed the acquisition of Friatec’s advanced ceramics business operations and this acquisition will further expand Kyocera’s fine ceramics sector in Europe.

Relevant Reports

India Technical Ceramics Market – Forecast (2022 - 2027)

Report Code – CMR 1361

Electronic Ceramics & Electrical Ceramics Market - Forecast (2022 - 2027)

Report Code – CMR 0653

Advanced Ceramics Market – Forecast (2022 - 2027)

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