Sodium Cyanide Market Grows in line with Downstream Demand
Click:2    DateTime:Aug.26,2020

By Chen Youwei, CNCIC

DuPont began to produce sodium cyanide in the United States in the 1950s. The total capacity of sodium cyanide was about 1.79 million t/a (calculated based on 100% sodium cyanide, the same below), and the output was about 1.35 million tons globally in 2015. In 2019, the global capacity of sodium cyanide totaled about 1.92 million t/a, and the output about 1.45 million tons. The average annual growth rate of production from 2015 to 2019 hit about 1.8% and the detailed production of sodium cyanide from 2015 to 2019 is shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1  Global sodium cyanide production, 2015-2019

In 2019, most of the sodium cyanide production plants were mainly distributed in Asia, accounting for about 59% of the total global capacity. North America, Oceania and Europe came next, taking up 15%, 9% and 14% respectively. Figure 2 shows the distribution of the global sodium cyanide capacity in 2019. The main producers of sodium cyanide include Hebei Chengxin Group of China, Cyanco of the United States, Anhui Shuguang Chemical Corp of China, Orica of Australia, Chemours of the United States, TongshuPetro of South Korea, Cyprus of Germany, Gold Reagents of Australia, etc.

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Figure 2  Global sodium cyanide capacity distribution 2019

Extraction of precious metal leads global consumption

Sodium cyanide is mainly used for the extraction of precious metals such as gold, silver, copper, and zinc, and also used in the production of chemicals, including chelating agent ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, feed additive methionine, pesticide, dye, and intermediate acetone cyanohydrin.
The global consumption of sodium cyanide was about 1.45 million tons in 2019, and the average annual growth rate of global sodium cyanide consumption from 2015 to 2019 reached 1.8%. The consumption in the extraction of precious metals accounted for about 70% of the total, suggesting that the development of global gold industry and chemical industry will have a direct impact on the consumption trend of sodium cyanide.
Nowadays, cyanidation gold extraction process is dominant in gold industry owing to its simple steps and high gold recovery rate. However, the process has obvious defects, i.e. cyanide is a highly toxic substance that has great risks in safety and environmental pollution in the process of transportation, storage and use. In addition, the discharge of industrial cyanide-containing waste and solid waste seriously pollutes the water source and soil environment, which will eventually destroy the ecological balance. China, the United States, Australia and other major gold production countries and regions have put forward some regulations and laws to restrict the use of sodium cyanide.
Cyanidation gold extraction process is highly controversial because of the high toxicity of sodium cyanide. In response, many countries have issued relevant bans, but the main gold production countries, such as China, Australia, Russia, and most countries in North America and Africa, have not banned the use of sodium cyanide, so it is expected that environment-related policies will have little impact on the growth of global demand for sodium cyanide in the short term.
China's mineral gold production has declined for three consecutive years as a result of the implementation of stricter environmental protection laws and regulations. The global gold production has been decelerating, with the average annual growth rate of global mineral gold only at 1.3% from 2015 to 2019. In the second half of 2019, however, China's gold production began to recover in line with the industrial reshuffle. In addition, with the consumption of high-quality gold resources in the world, the mining grade of gold resources is gradually decreasing, and the consumption of sodium cyanide for each ton of gold mining is also gradually increasing. Therefore, the demand for sodium cyanide in China's gold industry is expected to continue to grow in the next five years.
Although the average annual growth rate of chemical products has declined slightly due to a slowdown in economic growth and the supply-side reform, China's chemical industry is expected to maintain a growth rate of 3-5% in the coming five years, leading to a sustainable growth of sodium cyanide consumption demand.

Development trend

It is estimated that the global consumption of sodium cyanide will keep increasing in the next five years. The demand will reach 1.64 million tons by 2024, with an average annual growth rate of about 2.5% from 2019 to 2024.

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Figure 3  Global sodium cyanide consumption and forecast, 2019-2024

In the future, the sodium cyanide market will be mainly driven by the sustainable development of the downstream precious metal smelting industry. There is a large amount of gold and other precious metal mineral reserves to be exploited all over the world, and with the development of exploration technologies, the production of precious metals will increase. Low-toxicity environment-friendly gold extractant will affect the application of sodium cyanide in the smelting field of precious metals. In addition, the growth of chemical industry and electroplating industry will also be a major driver for the growth of sodium cyanide market.