Why does the price of quicklime increase when I know that there are still enormous deposits of high calcium limestone available to be produced into quicklime?
It’s true that there are huge supplies of high calcium limestone in the quarries that lime producers own. The supply of limestone, however, is not the primary determining factor in what the market price of lime will be. To understand this, keep in mind that all of the quicklime that is in the lime market (hydrated lime is produced from quicklime) came from high calcium limestone that had to go through kilns to be converted to quicklime. A new kiln is a major undertaking for a lime company, both financially and with regard to state and federal regulations. As a result, lime companies try to anticipate the lime market to make certain the new kiln will either meet existing demands, or those anticipated in the reasonably foreseeable future. If the lime market is “soft”, and future prospects for the economy uncertain, it’s unlikely that a new kiln will be brought online until things have improved. Eventually, the demand will grow to meet the existing lime production capacity, yet a new lime
Related Questions
- Why does the price of quicklime increase when I know that there are still enormous deposits of high calcium limestone available to be produced into quicklime?
- There are limestone deposits all around my location. Why isn there any high calcium lime available locally?
- How does the availability and quality of high calcium limestone deposits affect the price of quicklime?
