Precipitated Calcium Carbonate

Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) is an innovative product derived from lime, which has
many industrial applications. PCC is made by hydrating high-calcium quicklime and then
reacting the resulting slurry, or “milk-of-lime”, with carbon dioxide. The resulting product is
extremely white and typically has a uniform narrow particle size distribution. PCC is available
in numerous crystal morphologies and sizes, which can be tailored to optimize performance
in a specific application.

Use of PCC in following industry –

It is heavily substituting kaolin in this application. While the primary reason has been the
unavailability of high-quality kaolin, customers are also shifting due to the better opacity,
gloss, and scrub resistance provided by calcium carbonate.
 Paper Industry
 Polymer Applications
 Healthcare Applications
 Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC)
This offer significant potential for a supplier to target, primarily due to the large expansion
plans of companies such as Plastiblends and Finolex in India.
Market Size:-
As a result, GCC accounts for 85% of the calcium carbonate consumed today, while PCC is only
15% of the nearly 3 million MT market size. This market is serviced by 4 large-scale calcium
carbonate producers that account for around 30% of the market and an additional 20%–22%
of the demand is met by imports. The remainder of the market is fragmented and is catered
to by medium, small-scale, and unorganized producers.
According to a recently released TechSci Research report, “India Calcium Carbonate
Market Study, 2011 – 2025”, the market of calcium carbonate in India is anticipated to cross
$698 million by the end of 2025.

The Government of India has announced to invest nearly $1 trillion on infrastructural

development in the country during 2012-2017. Moreover, in the Union Budget 2016-2017,
the government has planned an outlay of $14.7 billion for building of smart cities.
Furthermore, in FY2016, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows in the country’s
agriculture sector were around $2.2 billion.

“Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) dominated India calcium carbonate market during
2011-2015, and the same trend is expected to continue over the span of next nine years. In
India, PCC is acting as an attractive and suitable replacement for Kaolin Clay as it is the most
economical chemical grade available for adding value and quality to the manufactured paper
and paperboard materials by means of replacing costly wood pulp, additives and other
substances like talc, titanium dioxide, etc.”, said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with
TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.

Indian Scenario:-
In India there are over two dozen companies engaged in making calcium carbonate, both in
the organised as well as unorganised sector. The capacity in the organised sector is estimated
at 2.82 lakh tons and another 1.25 lakh tons in the unorganised sector thereby making total
capacity available at 4.07 lakh tons.
Glushan Polyols Ltd. is the largest unit in the organised sector having 4 plants with combined
capacity of 1.35 lakh tons, having a share of 57% of the organised sector and 33% of the total
capacity.
Table 1: Trend in production of calcium carbonate in the organised sector (Th. Tons)

Source: Ministry of Chemicals-GOI

Table 2: Trade in Calcium Carbonate (Th. Tons)

Source: DGCIS
As can be seen from table 2 Imports of calcium carbonate has been continuously rising.
Imports have grown from 2.22 lakh tons in the year 2010-11 to 7.17 lakh tons in the year
2017-18 (10 months). The value of imports for ten months in 2017-18 was Rs. 548 crores.
Table 3: Source of Imports of Calcium Carbonate in India

Exports have been consistent over the period of last 6 to 7 years and have been in the region
of 30 to 40 thousand tons.
Table 4: Major Destinations of Exports

Source: DGCIS
 Consumption:-

The total consumption of calcium carbonate in the year 2016-17 is estimated at 8.10 lakh tons
in which share of imports has been as high as 74%. Consumption has grown from 3.97 lakh
tons in the year 2010-11 to 8.10 lakh tons in 2016-17 registering CARG of 12.5 percent.
The following chart provides pattern of consumption of calcium carbonate in India -

Opportunity:-
In India, few top players such as ITC Bhadrachalam, Triveni, and BILT were the first to
introduce use of Calcium Carbonate to improve the quality of paper. Some players such as
West Coast Paper, ITC Bhadrachalam have announced a total investment of more than Rs.
2,000 crores in their expansion which would be non acidic and would use Calcium Carbonate.
The country is currently importing Calcium Carbonate to meet the demand. The trend is now
catching fire and is expected to be in favour of ‘Onsite plant” for paper industry. Paper
Industry itself has grown in the range of over 9% per annum during the past years.
Gulshan Polyols is the first to introduce the concept of On-site PCC plant in India. First plant
was set up at the site of Magnum Papers ltd.

 ITC Ltd. Hoogly, Kolkotta

 Orient Paper Mill, Amlai, Madhya Pradesh
 BMPIL, Meghnaghat, Bangladesh
 BMPIL, Joya, Bangladesh, (WGCC)
 DSG Paper Mill Ltd., Patiala, Punjab
Are other on-site plants set up by Gulshan Polyols Ltd.
 In Paper Industry- in an On-site Plant, PCC (Precipitated Calcium Carbonate) is produced in a
satellite facility; onsite of a paper mill and the resultant slurry is pumped directly to the mill.
The utilities like Power, Water, Steam and the CO2 from the boiler stake are used to make
PCC in slurry form for its use in paper application.
Following are the benefits of the on-site PCC Plant -

 Economy in cost, production and supply chain

 No transportation costs
 Readily available of raw material
 Improves paper quality & properties like brightness, opacity, bulk, scattering-coefficient &
printability.
 Reduces the consumption of OBA and Titanium
 Increases filler loading in paper

Key challenge:-
The key challenge supplier’s face today is delivering high product performance in what has
become a highly commoditized market. Inclusion of niche grades (such as steric coated for
master batches and PVC) and application development along with the end user has to be the
focus for suppliers looking to make premium offerings and improving their margins. However,
this can only be in addition to the high-volume sales of commodity grades, as the potential to
make premium calcium carbonate offerings in India remains low.

Conclusion:-
The demand for calcium carbonate in India is estimated at 8.10 lakh tons expected to rise to
over 13 lakh tons in the next five years at a minimum growth of 10% per annum. The product
inspite being a commodity item the share of local production in total consumption at present
is only 38% is further likely to decline in the future as the share of imports continues to move
upwards.