The Production Cost Of Refractory Materials in Developed Countries Is Much Higher Than That in Developing Countries

In recent years, the world refractory industry has undergone major changes. On the one hand, due to the technological progress of the user industry, changes in processes and equipment (such as the increase in electric furnace steelmaking) and the improvement of refractory materials themselves, the consumption of refractory materials has decreased year by year; in the past 20 years, the average annual consumption of refractory materials per ton of steel has decreased by about 5 kg. On the other hand, the trend of globalization is obvious, and the fierce competition has made the varieties of refractory materials diversified, the performance and quality have been significantly improved, and the service awareness and ability of refractory materials enterprises for users has been strengthened. Many small and medium-sized enterprises that lack competitiveness and have no modern enterprise management awareness have gone bankrupt, and mergers and acquisitions are surging.

In the future, the refractory raw materials will be mainly high-purity, and natural selection and artificial synthesis will be used together. The development and utilization of "three stone" raw materials, namely andalusite, sillimanite, and kyanite raw materials, can improve the microstructure and thermodynamic properties of aluminum-silicon refractories. Since the "three stones" are transformed into mullite at high temperature, and the expansion coefficient of mullite is small, it is beneficial to improve the thermal shock resistance of the material. Adding andalusite to the material can phase transform to form countless fine voids for thermal stress diffusion, so that the stress in the refractory material is released, thereby improving the thermal shock resistance. The temperature of sillimanite completely mullite is higher, which is beneficial to improve the creep resistance at high temperature. In addition, the volume expansion effect accompanying mulliteization is also beneficial to high temperature creep resistance. The development of high-quality synthetic refractory raw materials, the use of natural raw materials in developed countries is decreasing, while the amount of high-purity synthetic raw materials is increasing. The output of bricks, high alumina bricks and zircon bricks is decreasing.

Therefore, innovation, R&D, education, management and investment will be the keys to the vitality and success of the refractory industry in the future. For the Chinese refractory industry at present and in the next few years, it is a period of structural optimization, enterprise reorganization and variety structure adjustment. The strategy for China's refractory development should be based on China's abundant natural resources to develop high-performance synthetic raw materials and more high-performance, functional products to meet advanced high-temperature industrial development and requirements, with a focus on continuous casting and clean steel production. At the same time, attention should be paid to equipment and management to improve the stability and reliability of refractory raw materials and product quality.

The cost of producing refractory materials in developed countries is much higher than in developing countries. At the same time, due to stricter environmental protection requirements, they are forced to only produce high value-added products or export technologies, while transferring bulk and labor-intensive products to developing countries for production.

Due to its unique advantages in raw materials and labor costs, China will undoubtedly have more opportunities. Since January 2004, my country has canceled the tax rebate for most refractory raw material exports, and the export of finished products has also reduced the tax rebate rate. This means that exports of important raw materials are further restricted. In order to reduce costs, some foreign companies are bound to move their factories to China, which will also be an important opportunity for the development of China's refractory industry. In addition, the convenience of communication and transportation, changes in the international market, and the increase in e-commerce have also brought good opportunities for the development of the refractory industry.