Talc comprises one of the prime key minerals in the category of industrial minerals trade in the country. India stands as one key resource for various grades of talc for domestic consumption as well as exports. India has one of the best and purest of talc deposits in the World.
The state of Rajasthan in the northwestern part of India is the epicenter of traditional talc trade since the beginning of the Century. The key talc mining areas lie in and around the districts of Udaipur, Dausa, and Bhilwara where the talc industry lies.
The Golcha’s from Rajasthan (Associated Soapstone Distribution Co and Golcha minerals) are considered the pioneers in talc mining, processing, and trade. The foundation of the Golcha group was led by Sir Mehtab Chand Golcha. The Golcha’s are the reasons for the development of talc industry In Rajasthan and India. There are more than 400 small and medium industries which work around talc and associated minerals in mining and processing of minerals.
The state of Rajasthan has various grades of talc composing of Pure Talc, Talc Chlorites to Talc carbonates. The major deposits still comprise of Talc Carbonate. Based on the nature of talc the talc is been processed and grinded in various mills like pulverizes, roller mills, Jet mills into various fineness of powders for use in industries like Ceramics, Paper, Paints and coatings, Plastics, Rubber, Cosmetics., Pharmaceuticals and many more.
The talc industry is divided into three categories majorly:
- Mine owners
- Processors/ Manufacturers
- Trades/ exporters
The division is based on the specialization and complexity of trade as all activities are treated as separate entity. This division has given a way to development of many industries, traders and associations and hence the nature of business is not monopolistic.
Talc users:
Primarily the paper industry was the key consumer of the talc powder with bulk consumptions. However, with development of other minerals the use of talc in paper reduced but it still remains as one of the bulk consumers of talc. Even the smallest of paper mills consumes talc not less than 100- 150 MT a month.
Today paints and coatings industry are a key consumer of talc with Plastics industry as the growth inhibitors. Other major industries are Ceramics, Rubber, Foundry, Refractory, Soaps, Cosmetics, Food and pharma.
Mining developments:
Talc was once a sought commodity from Rajasthan but the recent developments in mining has led to finding more potent and high-quality white talc resources from the state of Uttrakhand Rajasthan. Last 15 years have seen a up rise in the talc mining from The northern Indian state of Uttrakhand. The quality is incomparable to any commercial white talc resource from Rajasthan or from around the world and Uttarakhand becomes one key player specially for white and pure talc from India. Yes as for talc mining Uttarakhand becomes new Rajasthan with high quality pure talc lumps. The deposits here are huge, pure and sought for high end applications in plastics, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals.
Though everything looks good but the tough weather situations in Uttarakhand does not leads to fuller development of talc industry. Though there are many small and medium size players who buy talc lumps and grind there. But in reality, the weather and geographic conditions for a fuller development of talc industry does not support and hence most of the talc mined is been traded in various parts of India and also much of high-quality talc is been exported worldwide.
States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka in the South of India also have talc resources though the quality is mostly mixed, the natural talc’s are mixture of Carbonates. But the availability of talc deposit is a boon to the local industries which used to consume talc coming from Rajasthan in the past which was a costly affair in terms of transportation costs.
Further there have been news of finding new talc resources in the states of Jharkhand, M.P, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa but these are into development phase and there is no news concerning commercialization of these resources.
Also the neighboring Countries like Nepal and Bhutan have subsequent good quality of talc resources but the mining in these Countries have been banned or low due to environmental factors.
Future of talc:
The future for anything is always uncertain so is in the case of talc but the demand has been rising ever after and also the production of talc is, so there is clear no lack of demand and no lack of supply as well. But geographically the talc markets are more distributed now with development of talc industry around the mining resources. Rajasthan is still the key producer and distributor of talc but that is all not due to the local mining. It is also due to the inflow of white talc raw materials coming from Haldwani Uttrakhand.
The talc trade from Rajasthan is not the same as it used to be, government policies towards mining also play a major role and mainly mining is dependent on government policies which does not seem stable enough for further mining lease and grant. In recent times there have been no major development in granting new leases or reviving old mining leases or closed mines.
But recent developments in plastics especially automobile plastics and demand for ultrafine powders have given a way to new developments and newer markets and there will be newer requirements for technical products.
Exports:
Despite the demand and supply situation the talc prices remain stable and on a rise. This is also due to the fact considering the demand for raw materials in export markets. Yes, India remains one of the stable economies for supply of conflict free talc lumps for export worldwide. The best quality talc lumps from Uttarakhand are a pricey possession and exported worldwide. Japan remains as a key buyer for the top quality of talc raw material importer from India besides exports to other parts of the world.
From Asian continent Pakistan and Afghanistan are key exporters of white talc lumps besides China but the materials coming from Afghan and Pak does not 100% qualify as conflict free and some confusion of illicit trade always remains. So, this gives much hope to the buyers for Indian talc which is conflict free and is mined and exported legally from the Country.
SKKU MINERALS:
SKKU MINERALS stands as independent prominent player in the production and distribution of quality / technical talc and associated minerals. Over the time SKKU MINERALS have developed partnership with various mine owners from Rajasthan and other states for supply of quality talc products. We have dedicated plants for manufacturing of technical talc products for applications ranging in Food, Cosmetics, Pharma and plastics. Also, ultra-fine products have been developed as Tio2 Spacer for reducing the use of Tio2 in various end use formulations.
For more information get in touch with us info@skkuminerals.com
IMP: Statistical data’s pertaining to talc have purposefully not been used as they are misleading and incomplete.