The mica industry in India has long been of the world’s largest in terms of mica production and mica exports. India’s mica mining plays an important role in the country’s overall mining activity, contributing significantly to the economic growth of India. Despite the mica industry in India currently going through serious controversies around child labor issues, India still remains one of the largest suppliers of mica in the global market. As the mica market continues to grow, business opportunities with leading mica producers and exporters in India are also expected to flourish in the future, especially as the Indian government and the top players in the market launch new initiatives to tackle and eliminate the child labor issues.
What is Mica Used for
Mica is known as a shiny silicate mineral with a layered structure within granite and other rocks, or as crystals. Mica’s advanced properties include being highly translucent, stable, tough, durable and electrical resistant, therefore can be used as various of applications. The most prominent industry to use mica is as a thermal or electrical insulator in the electrical and electronics industries. Mica is also widely used in aircraft industry due to its unique combination of flexibility, transparency, and toughness. Other than that, beauty and personal care sectors use mica to give shiny and glittery appearance in the products such toothpaste and cosmetics.
Global Mica Market Overview
According to a recent report from Transparency Market Research, the global mica market revenue is expected to increase from US$478.1 million in 2015 to US$669.3 million by 2024 — posting a 3.8% CAGR over the period. The market growth is mainly driven by rising applications across a diverse set of industries such as electronics, construction, cosmetics, plastic, rubber, and paints and coatings. With a constant rise in the population of people used to seeing and working with a vast variety of electronic and electric equipment on a daily basis for an endless set of applications, the electronics industry is expected to exhibit excellent growth in the next few years.
Mica Industry in India
India has been dominating the production and export of sheet mica in the world, due to the sufficient mica mining resources in the country to meet the domestic requirement and export demand. The Indian Bureau of Mines reports that the total reserves of mica in India were estimated at 635,302 tonnes as of 2016. Andhra Pradesh is the state that leads with 41% share in country’s total mice resources followed by Rajasthan and Odisha.
Grow your business network, connect with top mica suppliers in India
When it comes to mica output, India produced a total 19,000 tons of mica in 2016. Jharkhand and Bihar, are the currently the top two mica producing states in India, representing for nearly 25% of the global production of mica. Household and luxury brands including L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Rimmel, Merck, BMW, Vauxhall, and Audi are some of the major buyers of India’s mica products.
The world’s largest manufacturers of natural mica pearlescent pigments are the German company Merck and the Chinese company Kuncai. Together, Kuncai and Merck import 25% of the mica exported from Jharkhand and Bihar. Manufacturers of pearlescent pigments around the world account for at least 60% of the mica imports from Jharkhand/Bihar.
Issue in the Indian Mica Industry
In 2016, Thompson Reuters exposed that child labor and terrible working conditions were connected with the major mica producing states in India, including Bihar, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan in North East India, where a quarter of the world’s mica is produced. In order to tackle the child labor issue in India’s mica industry, the Responsible Mica Initiativwasre launched in 2017. The initiative, backed by the Indian government and major mica consumers including brands like Chanel, L’Orea, and Merck, is aimed to eradicate child labor in mica mining.
Today, cosmetics companies and ingredient manufacturers have already been closely working alongside with the government of India to make supply chain of mica clearer and better. With more responsible policies and activities being implemented in the mica supply chain, India’s mica industry is expected to retain the reputation in the global market soon.
Connect with Top Mica Suppliers in India
The prominence of the mica industry in India has attracted a significant number of buyers and traders from all over the world. To help your downstream business stays at the top of the industry, BizVibe provides the best solutions to source the products and make the best business deals with the top mica suppliers in India. Don’t miss your chance to connect with the best industry suppliers, manufacturers, and exporters on BizVibe.
Whether you’re conducting competitive research or looking for new and reliable suppliers, quality producers or top wholesalers, BizVibe makes it easy to grow your business. No matter what your professional goals, BizVibe will help you reach them by introducing you to key industry players and decision-makers across the globe.
India’s top mica suppliers on BizVibe
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