The activated carbon industry originated in Europe in the early 20th century. In 1900, Raphael von Ostrejko from the UK obtained a patent for powdered activated carbon, and in 1911, it was put into production in Vienna, marking the birth of the activated carbon industry. After more than 100 years of development, activated carbon is now widely used in various industrial sectors such as food processing, metallurgy, and environmental protection, becoming an indispensable segment of the manufacturing industry.

The development of the activated carbon industry has roughly gone through three stages: the introduction stage (early 1900s to the 1950s), the growth stage (1950s to 1990s), and the maturity stage (from the 1990s to present). The first two stages of industry development were dominated by developed countries in Europe and America. Roughly in the 1990s, with the further expansion of global industrial transfer, the activated carbon industry in developing countries, represented by China, developed rapidly and became a new growth pole in the activated carbon industry. The United States, the Netherlands, and Japan are traditional major producers of activated carbon. With the rapid development of China's activated carbon industry, China has now become the world's largest producer and exporter of activated carbon.

Currently, the main production capacity of global activated carbon has shifted from developed countries to developing countries, especially China and Southeast Asian countries. In the 1990s, due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations, rising labor costs, and resource scarcity in developed countries like the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands, these traditional major producers of activated carbon began to transfer their low to mid-end activated carbon production, which is energy-intensive and has low added value, to developing countries, particularly those with abundant coal resources like China and those with rich forestry resources in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, the demand for activated carbon in developed countries continues to increase steadily, making them the main demand side for global activated carbon‌.

‌Current Industrial Landscape‌ of Activated Carbon

In terms of the supply structure, developed countries such as the United States and Japan are mainly suppliers of high-end activated carbon products. Although China and Southeast Asian countries have become major suppliers of activated carbon, their products are primarily low to mid-end activated carbon with poor specificity. There is still a significant gap between these countries and developed countries in terms of product unit added value, talent, technology, and enterprise scale. Due to the different target markets that activated carbon manufacturers in developing and developed countries actually face, there is basically no direct competition‌.

The activated carbon industry in major producing countries and regions abroad is roughly as follows:

‌The United States‌: The United States is currently a major global demand side for activated carbon. Although a significant amount of production capacity has been transferred overseas, it remains a major producer globally. The activated carbon industry in the United States is highly concentrated, with Calgon Carbon Corporation and Norit Americas Inc. accounting for more than 30% of the total activated carbon production in the country.

‌Japan‌: The activated carbon industry in Japan mainly imports basic activated carbon from developing countries for processing into various high-value specialized activated carbons. Major activated carbon manufacturers in Japan include large integrated enterprises such as Kuraray Group, Osaka Gas Co. Ltd., Calgon Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, and Futamura Chemical Co. Ltd. The industry is highly concentrated, with Kuraray Group alone accounting for 30% of Japan's total production capacity.

‌Western Europe‌: France, Germany, and the Netherlands are the main activated carbon producing countries in Western Europe. Norit N.V. is the largest supplier in the region, accounting for 50% of the entire region's production capacity.

‌Southeast and South Asia‌: Most of Southeast and South Asia are located in subtropical or tropical regions, rich in forestry resources, especially the shells of tropical plants such as coconut trees, which are particularly suitable for the production of wooden activated carbon. Therefore, this region is also an important output area for activated carbon, with major producing countries including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc.‌

Activated Carbon Industry Global Development Trends‌

Overall, after more than 20 years of global activated carbon industry transfer and upgrading, a diversified market competition pattern has formed for activated carbon. The development of the international activated carbon market presents the following trends:

Firstly, the transfer of activated carbon production capacity from developed countries to developing countries has led to a multi-level and complementary international activated carbon market. Developed countries dominated the introduction and growth stages of the activated carbon industry, leading in technology, capital, and industry scale, and mainly producing high-end activated carbon products. Developed countries need to import low to mid-end activated carbon from developing countries to produce various specialized activated carbons, which promotes the development of the activated carbon industry in developing countries. The production capacity of developing countries fills the demand gap in developed countries. This international industrial chain division has created a multi-level and complementary global activated carbon market structure.

Secondly, the market demand structure is further differentiated. With the increasingly prominent global environmental issues, protecting the environment and preventing pollution have become a consensus among countries. The elimination of high-energy-consumption and heavily polluting industries is a long-term trend, which will indirectly affect the main application areas of activated carbon and thus its demand structure. In developed markets, this is mainly reflected in the upgrading of demand levels, with the main demand for activated carbon shifting to environmental protection and energy conservation fields.

Thirdly, the application of activated carbon in new fields will change the industry's market capacity and industrial form. Currently, the main new application areas of activated carbon are as follows:

‌EDLC‌: Activated carbon is a widely used EDLC electrode material with advantages such as low cost, large specific surface area, and mature preparation technology. With the continuous development of activated carbon with better performance for EDLC electrodes, it is expected to bring significant changes to emerging industries such as electric vehicles and fuel cells.

‌Food and Medical Activated Carbon‌: Activated carbon has a good adsorption effect on exogenous toxins (such as pesticides and food poisoning) and endogenous toxins (such as triglycerides, creatinine, uric acid, etc.) in the human body, so it can be used as a bowel cleanser and detoxifier‌.

‌C. Blood Purification Carbon‌

Traditional hemodialysis membranes are unable to dialyze certain microsolutes with large molecular weights, leading to the long-term accumulation of these substances in the body. Activated carbon possesses excellent adsorption capabilities for large organic molecules, thus holding promise in addressing this challenge.