source: Office of the UK Deputy Prime Minister dated January 2006 Supply: The UK is the world's second largest producer and exporter of kaolin after the USA. Total sales were 1.94 million dry tonnes in 2004, a significant decline on peak sales of 2.78 million dry tonnes in 1988. Since then the industry has faced difficult market conditions as a result of increasing competition in Western European paper markets from imports of kaolin from the USA and, more recently, the Amazon Basin in Brazil, which now account for a third of the total market. In addition, alternative white pigments, in particular fine ground calcium carbonates, also compete with kaolin. The future of the industry depends on the continuing supply of high-quality clay at competitive prices. (source: Office of the UK Deputy Prime Minister dated January 2006)
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