# Abrasives

Furnace-made grits of fused alumina, silicon carbide and steel shot that grind, cut, blast and polish nearly every manufactured surface.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/

Industrial minerals · No. 76

- Not on a critical list
 Industrial minerals · Foundation · Matter

Almost every polished, ground or sanded surface you touch was shaped by grit cooked in an electric furnace, mostly in China.

Chart: Illustration: Abrasives

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

These grits are made, not mined: bauxite or alumina is melted in arc furnaces, and silica sand is baked with petroleum coke to form silicon carbide.

##### Three things to know

1. China holds about 800,000 t of the world's 1.3 million t of fused aluminium oxide capacity, roughly 62%.
2. The US imported over 95% of its fused alumina in 2025, and China supplied 97% of crude silicon carbide imports over 2021-24.
3. Making a tonne of silicon carbide releases at least 4.2 t CO2e, from the reduction reaction plus 7.15 MWh of electricity.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Raw materials**Bauxite, alumina, silica sand, petroleum coke
2. 2 **Furnace**Electric-arc or Acheson furnace melting
3. 3 **Crushing**Cooled ingot or crystal mass broken
4. 4 **Grading**Sorted into standard grit sizes
5. 5 **Products**Grinding wheels, sandpaper, blasting media

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/links/index.md)