You certainly have a sound understanding of the kaolin business Pioupiou. WAK's main issue has been that lack of water led them down the dry process and that automatically limits them to certain sectors. The two main ones being fibreglass and rubber which are both relatively low value in the scheme of things and puts them head-to-head with the US producers who have dominated that space for decades. You are right that there is an opportunity for a semi-processed product into ceramics, but I doubt if they could get their costs low enough to make any significant margin on that. You are also right about those hyperplatey products which are also valued in some coatings and polymer applications, but an aspect ratio of >70 is very rarely achievable and even getting to 50 is a big ask for any producer. If they could make such a product it would be an interesting add-on but there needs to be a large critical mass of other business behind it.
WAK Price at posting:
9.4¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
