Trends and Developments in the International Garnet Scene

摘要

Several months ago when I was first asked to prepare some comments for this conference I was pleased to have the opportunity. Frankly, those of use in the industrial garnet business are always on the lookout for a chance to spread our gospel. We've given lots of talks and made lots of presentations. Others have done the same, and the message has always been pretty consistent - Garnet costs a bit more than some other materials, but it justifies its cost through increased productivity or some environmental benefit. Now I'm certainly not going to argue with tradition, but as I thought about this presentation I realized that the story has become much more complex in the last year or so. The industrial garnet business is in the midst of a true structural revolution. Today I'll review some of the things going on in our business and will offer a peek into the possible future. First we need to take a brief look at the current structure of the industry. There are a couple of types of garnet, and demand can be segmented based on several different end uses. On the production - or supply - side, the industry can be segmented based on the type of geologic setting hosting the garnet minerals or by the market being served. We'll need to look at some of this information to understand where the industry is headed.