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Lime Makers Look to Expanding Business Oxygen steelmaking spurs higher use of lime; soil stabilization also offers bright market prospects Merchant lime producers, disappointed to find that apparently mounting sales figures of the past decade were nothing more than a statistical mirage, now have two genuine reasons for rekindling their hopes. One is that road builders are using increasingly greater amounts of lime (mixed into subsoil) for soil stabilization. The other is the rapid build-up in the steel industry of basic oxygen furnaces, which use about five times as much lime (as a flux) as do openhearth furnaces. Happily for the merchant producer, both of these outlets rely almost entirely on merchant lime. And both should just about double their lime requirements within the next five years. Misleading. Merchant lime producers have been disclaiming accolades for their seemingly impressive growth pace since the early 1950's. Bureau of Mines figures indicated that lime consumption in the U.S. had increased from 7.5 million tons in 1950 to 13.8 million tons in 1962. That represented an annual growth rate of 5.4%. For a commercial chemical that has been in existence since the pyramids were abuilding, that's a very respectable pace. But what the lime experts knew— and what the neophytes would have known had they read the fine print in the Bureau of Mines reports—was that the figures were misleading. A huge volume of lime (some of it regenerated) is produced captively. This is particularly true in the alkali and other chemical industry sectors, sugar mills, and various metallurgical operations. The Bureau of Mines, attempting to extend its statistical coverage of the lime industry, had been adding to its canvass the output of many captive lime producers. These producers had been making lime for some time, but had never previously reported their production. Hence in 1953, reported captive lime consumption jumped to
1,560,000 tons, from a paltry 486,000 tons the preceding year. Again in 1959, reported consumption of captive lime more than doubled (to 4,130,000 tons) what it was in 1958. Merchant lime companies knew all too well that it was new information sources, not new production, that were swelling the totals in the lime column. Merchant lime output by itself was advancing at a hardly perceptible 1.6% per-year pace during the 195062 period. But last year, merchant lime (sold or used) alone increased more than 9% to 8.9 million tons. It should reach 9.6 million tons this year and continue upward to 13.4 million tons by 1970. Impetus for this growth will come from the steel industry and soil stabilization.
Basic Oxygen. Steel companies are rapidly building basic oxygen furnaces, which use about 140 pounds of lime per ton of steel. Open-hearth furnaces average about 27 to 28 pounds of lime per ton. Only 10 years ago, there were no basic oxygen furnaces in the U.S. In 1955, only 300,000 tons of steel ingot were produced by the basic oxygen process, out of total steel production of 111 million tons. That year, the steel industry consumed 1.76 million tons of lime, the most it has ever used until 1963. Last year, although steel output fell off to 109 million tons, lime consumption hit 1.9 million tons, 16% greater than it was the previous year. The reason for the 16% increase was that output of basic oxygen furnaces
OXYGEN. A huge pouring ladle charges molten iron into the top of an oxygen converter at the steelmaking facilities of Acme Steel Co., Riverdale, III. Such facilities are using increasing quantities of lime OCT.
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KILN. Chas. Pfizer & Co. operates this lime kiln (called a Fluo-Radiation kiln) at its lime calcining and hydrating complex at Lucerne Valley, Calif. The plant can produce 200 tons per day of lime
also rose, to 8.5 million tons of ingot. This year, installed capacity of basic oxygen furnaces should be 17 million tons, according to Kaiser engineers. Kaiser, a division of Kaiser Industries, builds L-D furnaces (named after Linz and Donawitz, two Austrian steel towns), which account for the bulk of U.S. basic oxygen furnace capacity. There is only one other basic oxygen furnace—a Kaldo unit—in the U.S. This year is to be a boom year for the steel industry, with production expected to at least reach—and possibly exceed—120 million tons. Basic oxygen furnaces will account for about 13 million tons of this. And for the merchant lime producers, it will mean a market for almost 2.4 million tons of their product and a 2 3 % gain over 1963. With 20 million tons of additional capacity already announced, total ca28
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pacity of basic oxygen furnaces will be 37 million tons by 1966. And by the mid-70 , s, Kaiser believes that basic oxygen furnaces will exceed open hearths in steel production. At that
Soil Stabilization and the Steel Industry Will Give Merchant Lime a Genuine Lift Soil Stabilization
1958 1961 1962 1963 19646 19706
131 224 276 396 550 1,000
Steel Flux
1,316 1,587 1,649 1,914 2,365 4,520
° Only insignificant amounts of lime have been produced captively for soil stabilization and steel fluxing. * C&EN estimates. Source: Bureau of Mines
rate, and if the steel industry reaches the 130 million ton-per-year level that is expected by 1970, lime requirements for steelmaking will soar to 4.5 million tons that year. Stabilizer. Equally impressive is merchant lime's potential as a soil stabilizer. This has been growing rapidly the past few years and prospects for the future are even better. In 1958, soil stabilization took only 131,000 tons of lime. In 1962 it was 276,000 tons and last year it reached 396,000 tons. This year, about 550,000 tons of lime should go into soil stabilization. "We should reach 800,000 to 1 million tons by 1970," says Robert S. Boynton, executive director of the National Lime Association. New road construction accounts for most of the lime used as a soil stabilizer. But it is also finding its way into airport runways, parking lots, railroad beds, and even building foundations. Mixed into the subsoil, quicklime or hydrated lime reacts with the clay to yield a more moisture-resistant barrier and a stronger working table for the overlying pavement. This scheme spells economies for contractors because rather than excavate and haul in new aggregate, they can use in-place soil as a base. Only one shadow looms over an otherwise sunny path for merchant lime as far as the steel industry is concerned. That is the possibility that, as their lime requirements grow larger, steel companies may decide to make their own material. Limestone deposits are, after all, abundant and widespread. But merchant lime producers are betting that this won't happen. Historically, steel companies have relied on others to supply their lime. Last year, for instance, only 72,000 tons of lime out of a total consumption of 1.9 million tons were produced captively by the steel industry. But if merchant lime producers retain the steel industry as a customer, look for a round of acquisitions by^ lime companies. Lime is a low-priced product (quicklime sells for $14 to $15 per ton and hydrate goes for about $16 to $17). Shipping costs become critical. Depending upon location, it costs $4.00 to $5.00 per ton to ship lime less than 400 to 500 miles. Hence it's likely that major lime producers who are not already close to steel mills will be carefully checking the rosters of small producers who are close.
