THE REFRACTORIES INDUSTRY faces a slump in demand and an increase competition: that was the message following an evaluation at the 7~(th) Indian International Refractories Congress (IREFCON), Kolkata, India, 7-9 February 2008. Steel, by far the biggest consumer of refractories with a 74 percent market share (estimated by Tata Steel), is expected to fall from 24m. tonnes of refractories consumed in 2007 to 20m. tonnes in 2017. Declines in the remaining sectors of cement (12 percent), glass (4 percent) and non-ferrous (3 percent) will begin to slowly impose on refractory producers. The rising Indian refractory industry, however, is expected to benefit from this increasingly competitive market.
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