With the mushrooming popularity of barbecued and grilled foods, the demand for charcoal is rising sharply across the world. This is because charcoal is extensively used as a cooking fuel in barbecue and grilling applications. Moreover, people all over the world are increasingly preferring grilled food, on account of their growing awareness about healthy foods and lifestyles. Besides, the soaring requirement for charcoal in water treatment plants is also driving the growth of the charcoal market around the world.

Japanese white charcoal is heavily used in water treatment plants for eliminating harmful chemicals and substances from water and enriching it with natural minerals. In addition to this, activated charcoal carbon filters are increasingly being used in water treatment, because of their ability to eliminate sediments, foul odor, and hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The increasing industrialization rate in the emerging economies of Southeast Asia has severely polluted the water bodies, thereby pushing up the requirement for water treatment.

Furthermore, the governments of many countries are enacting strict regulations pertaining to the treatment of polluted water before it is supplied to residential and industrial buildings. Another important factor propelling the demand for charcoal is its growing usage in silicon production across the world. Charcoal is increasingly being used in place of coal in silicon production to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This is also creating lucrative growth opportunities for the charcoal market players.

Due to the above-mentioned factors, the revenue of the market is expected to rise from $5,882.8 million in 2018 to more than $6,566.5 million by 2024. Furthermore, the market is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 1.9% from 2019 to 2024. Sugar charcoal, lump charcoal, charcoal briquettes, and Japanese charcoal are the most widely used types of charcoal all over the world. Out of these, the demand for sugar charcoal is predicted to surge sharply in the upcoming years, primarily because of its usage in the production of artificial diamonds.

Metallurgical fuel, barbecue, industrial, and filtration are the major application areas of charcoal. Out of these, the requirement for charcoal will be the highest in barbecue applications in the forthcoming years, as per the forecast of P&S Intelligence, a market research company based in India. This is ascribed to the rising popularity of the traditional cooking method in many European, Asian, and North American countries. Globally, Latin America (LATAM) is predicted to hold the largest share in the charcoal market in the forthcoming years.

The region witnessed the sales of 5,561.3 kilotons of charcoal in 2018. This was because of the fact that charcoal was widely used for manufacturing pig iron in the region. Additionally, steel production increased considerably in Brazil over the last few years, and this has massively boosted the demand for charcoal in the country. Furthermore, with the surge in the country’s construction industry, the demand for charcoal in steel production is predicted to shoot up sharply in the coming years.

Hence, it is clear that the demand for charcoal will skyrocket in the upcoming years, primarily because of its ballooning usage in water treatment plants and the soaring popularity of barbecued and grilled foods across the world.