The mineral sands market will remain strong because supply is extremely tight and emerging markets will continue to drive demand, Iluka Resources says.

Chief executive David Robb said Iluka held about a third of the global market share for zircon, which was used in ceramic tiles.

He said mineral sands, and zircon in particular, would remain in strong demand as the emerging world continued to urbanise, even if the general global economy stalled.

Mr Robb also said there was an unwarranted obsession about the potential impact of any movement in China’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The Western world was myopic, not realising that many parts of the Latin, Islamic and Asian worlds were “nowhere near as affected by old world debt, as the West is so fixated upon at the moment”, Mr Robb told a business forum in Perth on Thursday.

“All of the world that the West doesn’t think about is growing very nicely, thank you, and our customers in Europe are benefiting from that demand on the other side of the Mediterranean, in the Middle East and the former Soviet Europe,” he told reporters after the forum.

“The world is overreacting – this (economic turmoil) is a Western issue mainly.”

“If China’s growth in demand for zircon halves and the rest of the world goes to zero growth, which is a pretty extreme scenario … that is still an increment in demand that this industry is going to struggle to meet.”

A lack of political leadership worldwide had led to a global collapse in confidence, Mr Robb said.

Expenditure on greenfields mineral projects had declined and discovery rates were slowing, so some economists believed there would eventually be a supply crisis.

“Without a clear national game plan, it’s hard for people to judge what risks are worth taking … alignment just isn’t possible, and productivity and progress are slower,” Mr Robb said.

“This is a huge issue for Australia today.”

Iluka on Thursday reported a near 10 per cent increase in mineral sands production in the September quarter.

“Production and unit cash cost trends, on a year-to-date basis, were in line with, or slightly better than, the 2011 guidance as provided by the company,” Iluka said in a statement on Thursday.

UBS analysts said year-to-date production volumes suggested that the company’s full-year output guidance would be met easily.

Shares in Iluka jumped $1.49, or 9.61 per cent, at $16.99.