As global manufacturing continues to upgrade and technologies advance, corundum and silicon carbide – core hard non‑metallic abrasives – are playing an increasingly fundamental role in precision machining, metal processing, and other industrial applications. It is forecast that the global abrasives market will exceed USD 55 billion in 2025. Leveraging its vast production capacity and continuous technological innovation, China has become the world’s largest producer and exporter of corundum and silicon carbide, holding a dominant position in brown fused alumina, white fused alumina, black silicon carbide, and green silicon carbide.

 World‑Leading Production Capacity and Firmly Top Export Ranking

As the “industrial teeth” of manufacturing, non‑metallic abrasives benefit from a complete industrial chain in China, spanning upstream raw materials to deep processing. In 2025, China’s annual output of brown fused alumina reached approximately 1 million tonnes (accounting for over 70% of global production), white fused alumina about 1.01 million tonnes, and black silicon carbide around 980,000 tonnes. On the export front, China exported 412,800 tonnes of brown fused alumina in 2025, mainly to Japan, India, and South Korea. Exports of white fused alumina grew from 235,400 tonnes in 2020 to 445,100 tonnes in 2024, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.26%. With stable supply and price advantages, Chinese products have established a core supply position in the global non‑metallic abrasives market.

Technology Upgrades and Green Transition Build Core Competitiveness

In response to rising demand from high‑end manufacturing sectors such as new energy and semiconductors, Chinese companies are accelerating their transformation toward smart and green production. In the corundum segment, the industry is moving from traditional low‑end processing to high‑precision classification and surface modification, continuously improving abrasive particle size control accuracy. Products like green silicon carbide are gradually replacing imports in high‑end applications such as photovoltaic wafer cutting and semiconductor wafer grinding. In 2025, China’s share of global silicon carbide production capacity for third‑generation semiconductor materials reached 29%, making it the world’s second‑largest supplier. Driven by the “dual carbon” goals, the non‑metallic abrasives industry is actively building green factories, optimizing smelting processes, and exploring low‑carbon production pathways.

Challenges and Outlook: Deepening Global Presence

Despite its clear advantages, China’s non‑metallic abrasives industry faces challenges such as intensifying international trade frictions and fierce price competition. To counter trade barriers like anti‑dumping measures, Chinese companies are actively expanding into emerging markets along the Belt and Road. Looking ahead, as Chinese firms continue to achieve breakthroughs in cutting‑edge fields such as high‑purity silicon carbide and high‑performance composite abrasives, the center of gravity of the global non‑metallic abrasives industry will shift further toward China, contributing more reliable Chinese solutions to the high‑quality development of global manufacturing.