Global Sodium Cyanide Market

Posted by Arslan on January 23rd, 2018

Sodium cyanide is primarily used as reagent in the mining activity, especially for the extraction of precious metals. More than three quarters of global sodium cyanide demand arises from the silver and gold processing application.

The market is driven by increasing demand from the precious metals mining industry owing to the renewed demand of precious metals with escalating prices. However, stringent regulations due to its high toxicity are expected to hamper market growth.

Sodium Cyanide Market can be classified based on its applications into three segments as precious metal mining, chemical Intermediates and others. Precious metal mining is estimated to be the largest as well as the fastest growing application segment for sodium cyanide, especially in the Americas, Australia, South Africa and China. It is used as chemical intermediate as a substitute for hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide is very volatile and cannot be transported over long distances without incurring large costs. Thus, in absence of local supply of hydrogen cyanide, sodium cyanide is used as a chemical intermediate. This application of sodium cyanide is more popular in Japan and Europe.

In terms of geography, Asia Pacific is estimated to be the leading market attributed to the fast growing industrial applications as well as rapidly growing mining activities. The region is witnessing major growth in China, Japan, Australia and South Korea owing to rapid technological advancements in these countries. Increase in Greenfield as well as brownfield projects for mining especially in Africa and South America are expected to aid sodium cyanide market growth. The mature markets of Europe and North America are expected to grow slow as compared to Asia Pacific and RoW.

Some of the key players in the sodium cyanide market include Anhui Shuguang Chemical Group, Cyanco, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company and Orica Ltd., among many others.