titanium dioxide production

Two Titanium Dioxide Production Processes: Sulfate And Chlorination

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Titanium dioxide is an important pigment widely applied in different industries, such as ink, coatings,masterbacth, PVC, paper, and cosmetics. knowing the titanium dioxide production process is key to understand the complex and accuracy in the production of titanium dioxide. We will get idea of different steps of process needed in the production. By understanding this process, we can better value the importance of titanium dioxide in various applications.

Two Production processes of Titanium Dioxide

There are two different production process of titanium dioxide, which are the production process of chloride method and the production process of sulfuric acid method.By sulfuric acid process, titanium powder will be reacted with concentrated sulfuric acid to get titanium sulfate. With hydrolyzation, metatitanic acid can be generated. Then with calcination and crushing, titanium dioxide can be obtained. Both Rutile and Anatase titanium dioxide can be produced in this way.

There are several advantages by sulfuric acid process. Its raw material is ilmenite and sulfuric acid, and they are easy to get. Its production technology is relatively mature which requires simple equipment.Also its anti-corrosion materials are easy to handle. But sulfate process also has some disadvantages. Its production process is long and can only be operated intermittently. It is by wet method operation which costs high consumption of water and sulfuric acid. There are various wastes by-products which may lead to pollution to the enviroment.

By chlorination process, rutile or high-titanium slag powder are mixed with coke. And titanium tetrachloride can be produced by high-temperature chlorination. With  oxidization at high temperature, titanium dioxide can be obtained after filtering, washing, drying and crushing. And only rutile type titanium dioxide can be produced by chloride process.

Chlorination process also has advantages. Its production process is short, continuous automation is high, the production capacity can beexpand easily, and its energy consumption is much lower. Three wastes are lower,  but higher quality products can be produced. But it also has some disadvantages. It requires high investment, complex equipment, higher quality raw materials. Its material also needs good resistant to high temperature and corrosion. The maintenance of the device and R&D is difficult.

Titanium dioxide

Titanium Dioxide by Sulfate Process

The sulfate process is mainly grouped into five steps: preparation of titnaium ore or titanium slag; preparation of titanium sulfate; preparation of hydrated titanium dioxide; calcination of hydrated titanium dioxide; after-treatment of titanium dioxide.

The above five steps includes following segments: drying, magnetic separation and grinding, acid hydrolysis, purification, concentration, crystallization and hydrolysis, water washing, bleaching and washing after bleaching, salt treatment, calcination,  dispersion and classification of titanium dioxide, inorganic surface treatment, water washing, drying, airflow crushing and organic treatment, packaging, recycling, by-products treatment and utilization. Various types of titanium dixoide such as anatase, rutile, and enamel type can be obtained through the sulfuric process.

Main segments in sulfate process production process

Acid hydrolysis. The titanium slag or dryilmenite is acidolyzed with concentrated sulfuric acid at a temperature of 150-180°C.The higher dilution of sulfuric acid is used when the ilmenite has lower titanium content. 85% of sulfuric acid concentration is suitable for treatment of rock ore; while 91-92% of sulfuric acid concentration is suitable for treatment of titanium slag. In the acidolysis process, ferric iron needs to be turned into ferrous iron.

Ferric iron is easy to be adsorbed on the surface of titanium dioxide particles, which will lead to the lower whiteness titanium dioxide.So it is quite important to maintain iron in a divalent form in the production process. Also the acid hydrolysis will produce the most of the air pollution. During the reaction, a big amount of acid mist, sulfur oxides, and unreacted raw material particles are produced in a short time.

Sedimentation and filtration. The cooled acidolysis solution, solid inert substances and unreacted raw material residue solution will be transfered from thebottom of acidolysis tank into the settling tank. Itspurpose is to remove soluble residues caused by titanium ore impurities.

These residues may include zircon,sulphate,  silica, rutile or leucolite. By adding starch, casein, or other organic flocculants, the liquid settles in the settling tank with simple gravity decomposition. First the solid matter is removed from the tank. Then raw materials will be recovered with washing of waste acid. Also the residual liquid will be washed by water. With fine filtering, the residual particles will be removed from settled titanium solution. These residues and other solids collected in the settling tank will be delivered to the storage yard.

Hydrolysis.Water-insoluble hydrated titanium dioxide precipitate or metatitanic acidcan be obtained with the hydrolyzation of soluble titanyl sulfate at 90°C. To getqualified hydrolyzed products at required particle size,the heating rate, ferrous ions content, tetravalent titanium ion content and other factors of titanium liquid need to be strictly controlled. The control of ferric ions is the key in this process. During rehydrolysis,crystal seeds is necessary to be added to control the hydrolysis rate, the filtration and washing performance. This can make the final product with better fineness and other quality indicators.

Seeds can be added in two ways: self-seeding and external seeding. The self-seeded crystal added during the carry out of the hydrolysis process and no additional preparation of the crystal seed is required. External crystal seed is to add rutile or anatase seed crystals to the titanium solution. Adsorbed iron and other metals can be removed under acid-leached with sulfuric acid after the hydrolyzed sediment slurry is filtered and washed. It is also referred as bleaching. This is the main step for causing waste acid in the sulfuric process.

Calcination.At 900-1250°C,the hydrated titanium dioxide is calcined. During the  calcination process, water and sulfur trioxide can be deducted. At the same time, anatase titanium dioxide can be transformed into the rutile type. Calcination can determine the particle size of the final titanium dioxide and enhance the chemical inertness. Titanium dioxide is grind into particles and then will be after-treated. In the calcination stage, some fine titanium dioxide particles are entrained with the discharge of sulfur trioxide and acid mist. This is the main source of waste gas in the sulfuric process.

After-treatment. After treatment process has following aspects:wet grinding, inorganic coating, drying, jet milling, and organic coating.

 

Different Stages In After Treatment Process

During wet grinding, titanium dioxide particles will be dispersed together with organic or inorganic dispersants. The aggregated titanium dioxide particles have to be depolymerized as much as possible, which can facilitate the inorganic coating. Wet milling equipment mainly includes ball milling machine, sand mill, dense medium mill, organic ball mill, etc.

After wet grinding and depolymerization, titanium dioxide needs to be treated with inorganic coating. This can shield ultraviolet light and strengthen its weather resistance. Inorganic coating agents are aluminum oxides, silicon oxides, water and hydroxides. In recent years, zirconium has been adopted for mixed coating to achieve better gloss and weather resistance. In drying process, a belt dryer or a spray dryer is used.

After inorganic coating, jet crushing and organic coating is made. Flat airflow pulverizers are commonly used currently. Different organic coating agents are added in this process. On the one hand, organic coating can help in neutralizing the surface energy of titanium dioxide to avoid its re-agglomeration. On the other hand, it can change the physical and chemical properties of titanium dioxide, which help improving its compatibility in the paint and plastics formulation. In paint application, amines, alcoholamines, and silanes are used for organic coating. In plastics application, dimethylsilane, polyethanol, and triethanolamine are used.

titanium dioxide production

Chlorination production process of titanium dioxide

Chlorination production process of titanium dioxide are as follows:  preparation of raw ore,  preparation of titanium chloride, titanium chloride, titanium dioxide surface treatment. It includes following segments: ore coke drying, ore coke crushing, chlorination, titanium chloride refining,oxidation of titanium chloride , dispersion and classification of titanium dioxide, inorganic surface treatment, water washing, drying, air crushing and organic treatment.

Differnt Segments in the Chlorination production process

Chlorination section

Titanium ore will be added into the boiling furnace from the boiling layer with certain proportion of petroleum coke. The circulating chlorine gas back from the oxidation process will be added in from the bottom of the furnace. This reaction is carried out at 925~1010℃ in a continual process. TiO2 and oxides of iron, silicon, alum, calcium, magnesium and other metals are transformed into corresponding chlorides. They will get out of the chlorination furnace with gas. The reaction gas needs to go through the cyclone separator.

And unreacted solid dust and non-volatile chloride in the reaction gas will be separated. After cooling and condensing, the ferrous chloride is separated first, and then ferric chlorine is separated. After this, low-boiling titanium tetrachloride (containing silicon tetrachloride and alum trichloride, etc.) will be collected by using cold titanium tetrachloride spray. After mud removing, crude tetrachloride is obtained. Crude titanium tetrachloride will be made into high-purity refined titanium tetrachloride by removing low-boiling impurities such as silicon tetrachloride.

Oxidation Section

the oxidation reactor needs refined titanium tetrachloride preheate, oxygen preheated, nucleating agent and crystal transformation accelerator to react in it. The initiation temperature of the oxidation reaction is above 800 °C. The main reaction is generally processed at 1300-1800 °C. The airflow from the reactor (entraining the titanium dioxide particles generated by the reaction) is quenched with low-temperature circulating chlorine gas to below 700 ° C, and then cooled to 200 ° C through the pipeline along the way, and the titanium dioxide is gradually separated from the cyclone separator and bag collector The chlorine gas is separated, and the titanium dioxide is sent to the post-treatment process after dechlorination treatment.

Post-processing stage

The post-treatment section includes following process: beating, grinding, chemical preparation, surface treatment, filtration and washing, spray drying, micro-grinding and packaging. Following are the details.

After oxidation process , the TiO2 powder will get into the beating tank. Dispersant and desalted water are measured and put into the beating tank. The qualified slurry will go to the grinding process.

After beating, the slurry enters into sand mill’s feedtank and get redispersion. By the feed pump, the slurry gets into sand mill. It will be ground to slurry with particle size less than 1 μm. After grinding, the slurry will go to the storage thank of sand mill. It will be pumped in the classifier as per different grades. The coarse material gets back to sand mill again. The fine material gets to the surface treatment tank.

After measuring, the slurry comes into the surface treatment tank. Different surface treatment agents are added in to the slurry. After the reaction, it goes into the filtration process.

The treated slurry gets pumped into the suction tank. In the suction tank, the leaf filter is vacuum-filtered . After the film loads up, the bridge crane get up the leaf filter. It is put into desalted water for washing. After it meets the requirement, the bridge crane gets up the leaf filter and unloads the slurry in the discharge tank.

The powder will go into airflow conveying system. At the entrance of the airflow mill, a pump delivers the powder. After adding crushing aids, the powder will get crushed into an average particle size of around 0.3μm. The bag filter separates the entrained TiO2 powder. The powder cools down by the air and gets seperated by cooling cyclone. The air flows out of the bag filter and goes into the atmosphere through the big fan. After the cooling cyclone and bag filter, the Tio2 powder gets into packaging process.

The TiO2 finished product comes into the screw conveyor. And it will go into the finished product warehouse. The package of TiO2 is 25 kg/bag or 1000 kg/bag by packaging machine as per customer needs

 

The Current Capacity Situtaion For Two Processes

Chloride process of titanium dioxide is the development trend. The chlorination method and the sulfuric method will exist together for a long time. Instead of a substitute relationship, they are complementary. In china, the total capacity of Chloride titanium dioxide from China is around 40MT. And the total capacity of sulfate titanium dioxide in China is 3.3million MT. The production capacity of chloride titanium dioxide increases in recent 10 years. The producers of chloride titanium dioxide in China has increased from 1 producer to 5 producers.

 

We have stated about the two different production process and each section of the titanium dioxide production process. It provides the chemical transformations and equipment involved in different process. And you will get a clear idea about the quality control of titanium dioxide.

titanium-dioxide-powder

What are the Applications of Titanium Dioxide?

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Titanium dioxide is one of the widely used colorants which is used to give color to several products we use in our day-to-day chores. The chemical formula for Titanium Dioxide is TiO2. Although it is very commonly used in several products in our daily life, there are many unknown facts or lesser-known sides of its use and properties. We must acquaint ourselves with these properties and uses as it may help us to bring more human-friendly products for the service of mankind. One such fact is the use of titanium dioxide in fighting the deadly surging skin cancer and environmental changes taking place around us.

titanium-dioxide-powder

Titanium dioxide has a brilliant and sharp white color which along with properties like resistance to Ultraviolet radiation and its ability to scatter light makes it a wonderful candidate for giving these properties to the products it is being used in.

Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) is used in the production of paints, drugs, paper for writing, floor tiles, and even food items. It is also known as photocatalyst and its addition to paints, cement, and floor tiles can cause the breakdown of pollution-causing agents. The dashing white-colored appearance of titanium dioxide makes it one of the most coined raw materials for the paints industry.

It has been over one century since the use of titanium dioxide was established in a wide range of industries. Chemically it is classified as an inorganic compound and other useful properties include non-toxicity, non-reactivity, and high luminance. These are the reasons why they give a bright aspect to the products to which they are added.

It is known to be one of the brightest substances because it scatters Ultraviolet rays on one hand and absorbs them on the other hand.

As discussed above, the sharp white color and ultraviolet absorbing and scattering properties add to the favor of Titanium Dioxide usage in different sectors.

Enlisting all of the uses of titanium dioxide might be a daunting task but we’ll try to do so here briefly.

Whether it is the paints manufacturers or coating manufacturers, TiO2 is a go-to chemical for white color. It is also being used in inks for printing presses, packaging, cosmetics, and toothpaste. It is also being used as a food colorant. Some other commonly known uses are in the industries such as pharmaceutical and sunscreen manufacturers. That’s a mesmerizing range of uses from the non-edible spectrum to the edible spectrum of usage.

Let’s discuss all of them in a quick but detailed overview here:

Paints, coatings, and plastics

Usage in Paints and Coatings industry:

Titanium white is the alternative name for Titanium dioxide TiO2 when it is used as a pigment. Numerically it is known as Pigment White 6 and CI77891. It gives the brightest white color.

In the early 20th century, lead was used as a whitening agent and as we all know, lead is a pretty toxic substance to be used in multiple products. But it was not that easy to use titanium dioxide as a replacement for the lead as a whitening agent mainly because of higher costs.

PAINTS-USING-TITANIUM-DIOXIDE

Pigment White 6 or titanium dioxide is now considered the primary component for white paint and almost half of the usage of titanium dioxide is in the paints industry.

The ability of titanium dioxide to scatter visible light is primarily due to its high refractive index and owing to this property it adds bright white color to any product to it is added. The quality of reflection produced by it is unmatched.

The white color on the wings of wind turbines is also owed to titanium dioxide’s ability as a whitening agent. Besides its color, it also protects against ultraviolet radiation. You also might have noticed that windows are often painted white, primarily for the same reason as wind turbines.

 

Titanium Dioxide for Masterbatch:

Most have heard the word masterbatch, but we are not very familiar with the actual meaning of it. Masterbatch is a form of pigments in which different pigments are mixed and then cooled down and turned into a granular form which is then used to give color to different materials when they are being developed.

Titanium dioxide masterbatch often called white masterbatch gives bright white color to different forms of plastics. The intensity of the white color depends upon the amount of Titanium Dioxide used in combination with other pigments or fillers. Different types of plastic carriers such as PE, PS, and PP use titanium dioxide masterbatch as their whitening agent to produce plastic formations such as lamination, films, etc.

Some advantages of using a titanium dioxide masterbatch are bright white color and opacity, high-temperature resistance, non-toxic, and UV radiation resistance.

Some applications of these masterbatches:

In agricultural settings, a white masterbatch is used to create white plastic sheets often used in vegetable-growing farms for covering purposes.

Packaging industries are hugely dependent on titanium dioxide masterbatch granules as they give white color to all the white label boxes and product boxes.

There are many applications where it can be used but we’ll limit the discussion here. 

Titanium Dioxide for Inks:

Printing inks are widely used in printing books, titanium dioxide gives white printing ink opacity and brightness. The more opacity it has, the better it covers the page. Sometimes it is also used in combination with colored inks to give those colors brightness and crispiness which makes them appealing to the reader. Titanium dioxide inks have low abrasion levels, which provides an essential advantage of high-quality printing and smooth texture which is often disturbed by printers using another kind of inks due to friction in the printing process.

INKS-HAVING-TITANIUM-DIOXIDE

The other properties imparted by titanium dioxide inks are:

Brightness and Opacity

Minimal Abrasion

Equal distribution

Chemical and heat stability

 

 

Now that we have discussed the uses of titanium dioxide, we’ll now have a look at the properties of TiO2.

The wide range of applications of titanium dioxide is dependent upon its physical properties of it.

High Melting Point:

Its melting point is quite high i.e., 1843°C which makes it stable under sunlight.

High Boiling Point:

As we know, the boiling point is always higher than the melting point. The melting point for Titanium dioxide is 2972°C. For this reason, it is always found in solid form, and it is insoluble in water.

Yellowish Appearance:

You might be thinking that titanium dioxide should be of pure white color but that isn’t the case. It appears yellowish white to the naked eye, but it does give a bright white color to any product it is added to. The yellowish appearance is mainly because of the absorption of ultraviolet light.

High Refractive Index:

This property makes it a very good substance to be used in white paints as it scatters light more than other white pigments and results in a more whitening appearance.

Photocatalytic Agent:

This property has been discussed in detail. UV light highlights this property of titanium Dioxide. As a photocatalytic agent, it degrades a lot of environmental pollutants.

The discussion on different aspects of titanium dioxide can go on for hours but we’ll keep it short and crisp and leave the rest for the next articles.

Resistance:

Titanium Dioxide has been known to have high resistance to heat (stable over a wide range of temperatures). Resistance to degradation by climate and weather changes is also a desirable property.

How many Grades of Titanium Dioxide are there?

Like many other chemicals, titanium dioxide can exist in many forms which makes it applicable to several industries. Titanium Dioxide is generally produced in two different grades which are Rutile Titanium Dioxide and Anatase Titanium Dioxide. For use in the paint, plastic, and ink industry, rutile titanium dioxide is applied. And in industries like paper or ceramics, anatase grade is commonly used. Besides other chemical properties, both of these grades have no smell or taste and it is insoluble.

pigment-grade TiO2 particles are approximately 200-350 nm in dimension and this form accounts for 98 percent of total production. It is used mainly for light scattering and surface opacity applications, such as paint – this includes its use as a base for various color paints or as a standalone ‘brilliant’ white.

 

Food Industry:

You might have noticed that packaged foods are somewhat more colorful than their fresh counterparts. This is mainly due to the use of food color pigments. Being used in food items, these pigments must not be harmful to the body. Titanium dioxide is one of the best for this use and it is known as E171. It gives white color to the food and even enhances the texture of food. Besides whitening and texture, it is also used as a softener and abrasive in some sweet products.

 

Cosmetics Industry:

Again, like other uses of titanium dioxide, here it is also used for its white color and consistency-producing properties. Many cosmetics products such as creams must be white to give a transparent but glowing look when applied on the surface of the skin, and this is what titanium dioxide is responsible for.

Sunlight contains ultraviolet radiation, and they are quite harmful to bare skin. This is where titanium dioxide is helpful, as it is a primary ingredient in sunscreen products. The risk associated with nano-sized titanium dioxide used in sunscreens is not the same as micro forms of it. The rutile form is one of the most common forms being used in cosmetics and there has been no observed skin damage associated with this form. The same goes for sunscreens being used for kids and people with sensitive skin particularly because they don’t absorb UV radiation and other types of sunscreens absorb UV radiation.

COSMETICS-TITANIUM-DIOXIDE

Talking of the environmental facts of titanium dioxide, many sunscreens which have titanium dioxide are proven to be less harmful to coral reefs than those having other agents in their composition.

Special attention must be paid to all the chemicals being used in cosmetics as the rate of skin cancer and cosmetic-associated cases continue to rise all over the world. UV radiation-absorbing components in cosmetics are the main culprits behind these problems.

Environmental Advantages:

Titanium dioxide is one of the miraculous chemicals which is quite useful in many environmentally friendly uses.

Buildings are often coated in white paint to keep them cool as the white color reflects lighter and results in lower absorption of heat. Titanium dioxide is the main component of these paints. Cool buildings mean there are low requirements for heating which in turn leads to lesser environmental pollution caused due to the production of energy. Only a single coat of paint is required to cover the surface which makes it an efficient component decreasing the amount of paint used to cover a single surface.

Another environmentally friendly aspect of titanium dioxide is that it is used as a photocatalytic agent (which means that it can downgrade multiple environmental pollutants in various products and thus decrease pollution). These products include cement, paints, windows, and tiles. Car exhausts and some gas exhausts of power plants also use titanium dioxide as a photocatalytic agent.

As a photocatalyst, titanium dioxide might be used as a source of clean energy production. Hydrogen fuels are becoming a trend lately and one way to produce them can be through hydrolysis which is mediated by Titanium Dioxide. Hydrolysis of water by titanium dioxide will yield oxygen and hydrogen, oxygen can be emitted into the environment without any hazard and hydrogen can be used in hydrogen-powered engines. Similarly, titanium oxide is used in some solar cells where they replicate the process similar to photosynthesis to produce an electric current.

What is the composition of titanium dioxide?

Titanium dioxide is formed when titanium, which is found in large amounts in the earth’s crust reacts with the oxygen present in the atmosphere. Titanium coexists with iron and calcium in the earth’s core.

Titanium dioxide consists of two oxygen atoms and one titanium atom. Chemically it is a stable compound with almost no reactivity with other compounds under normal circumstances. This is the reason why it has found many uses in multiple fields.

 

What is the source of Titanium Dioxide?

Titanium Dioxide is found mostly alongside iron as a mineral ilmenite and sometimes it is present in the rutile form which is simply TiO2. Both of these mineral forms are found around the world in different rocks and sands. The mineral is mainly supplied from Australia, Vietnam, China, India, and South Africa.

 

How Is Titanium Dioxide extracted from nature?

The process of extracting titanium dioxide is dependent upon where and in which form titanium oxide is found in minerals and depending upon these differences, titanium dioxide can be extracted by two main methods.

  1. Sulphate Process of Extraction
  2. Chloride Process of Extraction

Out of ilmenite and rutile mineral forms of titanium dioxide, the former is the main source of Titanium dioxide yielding more than half of its ilmenite form.

Ilmenite can be converted into pure titanium dioxide using the above two mentioned procedures.

Let’s discuss both of these extraction processes briefly.

The Sulphate method of extraction is currently the most popular one and yields around two-thirds of the total titanium dioxide produced in the EU. While the chloride process is used less than the sulfate method, it only yields a little over one-third of total titanium dioxide in the EU.

Will Titanium Dioxide survive the Evolution of Technology?

As we mentioned earlier in our discussion, titanium dioxide is much more commonly used in our daily life than most of the public knows. It is believed that it will certainly sustain the gusts of time and stand firm for a long time coming ahead although work is underway to improve its usage and decrease the number of resources used to manufacture it. We hope that things will turn out great owing to the effort being put in.

chemical plant

Chemical prices plunged in China market

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The price of thermal coal has dropped from its highest price of USD312/mt on October 19 to USD166 /mt in the China market. The price is almost down by 47%, nearly half. The price drop of thermal coal also dragged down the price of coal chemicals. Meanwhile, this dropping trend also inspires the spot market The price of PVC, methanol, styrene, isobutylol, and new glutaradiol has a sharp downward trend, which makes a surprise in the market.

 

chemical plant

The price of coal chemical products has fallen sharply with the collapse of the coal price

With the Chinese government taking all measures to maintain a steady supply of coal and electricity power, the coal price has dropped accordingly. And this also becomes the key reason for the sudden price dropping in chemicals and other chemical raw materials. Epoxy resin has had a continuous sharp increase in the past months. But its price has lowered recently. The price of solid epoxy resin is USD4200/MT, which is USD300/MT lower than one week ago. With the price dropping, the downstream customers are expecting loa lower price of USD4100 or a lower price of USD3950. And this also makes the market transaction atmosphere weak.

In addition to the epoxy resin, many other chemicals such as epoxy chlorpropamide, phosphate, yellow phosphorus, and butadiene have a price decline after China’s gold nine silver ten sales season. since early November, prices began to decrease. The price has plunged more than USD1300/MT on week from USD5080 to USD3780/mt. This makes the whole chemical industry into winter beforehand. The price of DMC was USD6300/mt, down by USD1000/mt from the previous week, and the price of silicone oil (Polydimethylsiloxane) was USD6500/mt, which is 34% down from the highest point. Also, The PVC futures has fallen five times by the daily limit. With the future price continuing to weaken, it is negative for the spot market. And now the quotation of PVC in the n future market and spot market two weak spot markets was in chaos. In some regions, the price of PVC has dropped to less than 140000/MT. Under the suppression of falling futures prices, traders are selling stocks immediately.

From the current series of actions of restraining unreasonable price increases of bulk commodities, the price increase expectation of chemical raw materials in the next six months is very limited, and most products will gradually return to a reasonable range.

With the impact of the price reduction news, real order is very limited when some enterprises quote at a high price. The less transaction also dragged the market down and the expectation of transactions is weakening. Some Industry experts said that one of the reasons for the price decrease is that the newly expanded production capacity leads to an obvious supply increment. And the buyers have a strong bearish mood on the transaction with the supply and demand imbalance.

 

Chemical products

40 chemical products have a drop in price with a decrease of more than USD130/MT 

With the continuously increased ease in the recent chemical market, there are many chemicals with sudden price drops. And many of them are the products with hot increase and reach their historic highest point. This rapid change has made buyers unpredictable.

The price of liquid ammonia was USD620/MT, and there is a price drop of USD130/MT 20% less compared to early August. With the impact of enterprise maintenance and shortage of domestic goods, liquid ammonia experienced a soaring market in mid-to-late July.  But the increase didn’t last long, and the price of liquid ammonia continued to decrease. With the poor traffic situation and high inventory caused by the epidemic, together with the high output at high operating, as well as less demand, the price of liquid ammonia dropped again and again.

Previously, the price of trichloromethane had started a speeding process. The price soared to USD546/MT, and even over USD635/MT. There was a single-day increase of 8.7%, which was the highest one-day increase in the past 10 years. But with the high-temperature weather cooling down, the demand from the refrigerant market becomes weak, domestic sales and foreign trade are not as expected, and its raw material liquid chlorine price is low. With all these impacts, trichloromethane prices dropped by 16% from early August.

Since the beginning of 2021, the price of PTA cost-end crude oil and PX has been increasing, and its auxiliary material acetic acid also has had a significant increase. Till the end of July, the PTA price was more than USD800/MT and some large-scale factories even cut orders due to insufficient supply. However, with the operation of new PTA devices, the supply will increase. And now the domestic PTA price has dropped below USD710/MT. Its price has dropped by 13% compared with the beginning of August.

Due to the influence of the Shanxi flood, many urea factories in Jincheng stopped production. With the reduction of the market inventory and other multiple positive factors, the domestic urea spot market had a rise, and the loareaurea prices hit a new high. But with the end of peak agricultural season, and the industrial demand is insufficient, the market trend of urea is depressed. The price even drooped two times in one day. To ensure order volumes, the big factories have offered preferential price policies. Thus, the actual transaction price is much lower than expected, and the price decreased by USD60/MT or 12.37% from the beginning of August.

The export market of domestic MMA has expanded rapidly, and the monthly export volume has reached new highs. With more MMA export, fewer imports, and less output, the market inventory of MMA in China market has decreased sharply, and the price has exceeded USD2222/MT. But by the end of Oct., the buyers are mostly watching, and the negotiations were deadlocked. And the price is down by USD270/MT from the beginning of August with a drop of around 11%.

Iso octanol prices had soared to USD2950/MT, up by 156% from the same period last year. While due to the weakened raw material price, and the supply increase, its prices also fell slightly. The newest offer is now decreased by USD200/MT with a decrease of 6.9% from early august.

The price of ethylene glycol has rushed to USD950/MT at a new high. But due to the rapid decrease in the downstream polyester end. The market expectation is not optimistic. Along with the supply recovery, the tight market inventory situation has finished. Its current price is down by USD60/MT at around 6% from early August.

It is reported that Wanhua Chemical, BASF, Shanghai Hensmai, and Dow Chemical have all raised the price of MDI products. The supply of MDI is also tightening, and its prices have increased from June 2021, soaring from USD1900/MT to USD4500/MT. This price is almost the highest in nearly three years. But recently the MDI market atmosphere turned weak, and the price can be negotiated. The current market offer has decreased by USD200/MT around 5.64% from early August.

Ethyl acetate prices reached USD1450/MT and are highest in a decade. But the recent transaction price of the main factories has declined, and the trading atmosphere is not positive. The current price is down by USD80/MT and is around 4.91% lower compared with early August. The ethyl acetate in China market may continue to weaken in short term.

In the silicone industry, the price is decreasing continuously since early November. DMC price has dropped to USD4900/MT, which is almost half of the price from the highest point last month. With the DMC price plunging, the price of dimethicone silicone oil and 107 RTV also dropped. The newest silicone oil PDMS price is around USD6900/MT. The sudden price drop makes the procurement stop the purchase and those who bought at higher prices would have a stock loss.

In the titanium dioxide industry, with the winter coming, construction coating consumption is decreasing. And the main market price of Rutile titanium dioxide like Lemon 996 is USD 3,200/MT. Other brands have a price of USD3100 to USD3300. with the demand weakening, the price of titanium dioxide can be negotiated as per the orders.

The organic pigment price also stopped increasing and some item has a slight price drawback. The price of pigment yellow 74 has dropped from USD10.95/kg to USD10.50/kg. Products like Pigment Yellow 12 and Pigment Yellow 13 also stopped for a further increase.

A collection of the price declines of different chemical products

The price of dimethyl carbonate was USD 1370/MT, down by USD 740/MT from the previous week.

The phosphate price was USD2000/MT, down by USD690/MT from the previous week.

The liquid epoxy resin was quoted at USD5000/MT, down by USD630/mt from the previous week.

The price of propylene glycol was USD3450/MT, down by USD330/MT from the previous week.

DMF was quoted at USD2570/MT, down by USD280/MT from the previous week.

Butadiene was quoted at USD1060/MT, down by USD250/MT from the previous week.

MMA was quoted at USD1960/MT, down by USD20/MT from the previous week.

The price of natural anhydride was USD 2400/MT, down by USD 130/MT from the previous week.

Liquid chlorine price was USD200/MT, down by USD110/MT the previous week.

The caustic soda price was USD190/MT, down by USD60/MT from the previous week.

Phenol was quoted at USD1500/MT, down by USD60/MT from the previous week.

The PTA was quoted USD770/MT, down by USD56/mt from the previous week.

 

From the above data, it is not difficult to see that the recent decline in chemical products mainly focuses on the previous chemical products with a sharp increase, such as hydroxybenzene, ethylene glycol, polymerized MDI, ethyl acetate, etc. This is also in line with the previous market analysis which says that chemical products would not always be on the rising side and would come down after it reaches the peak.

chemical news

 

Why do the prices of chemical products plunge?

The sudden plunge in tin prices of chemical products, the experts say is related to the recent huge changes in the chemical industry chain. The supply and demand situation between coal and other energy terminals is quietly changing. The downstream demand is lessening, and goods transportation is blocked in some regions due to heavy snow. All the different reasons jointly lead to the diving of chemical product prices.

With the upstream raw material, coal price has halved, and the pressure on the chemical enterprises has been lessened to some degree. But the complex downstream situation still makes chemical enterprises anxious. With the end of the year getting closer and closer, the dual control policy on energy consumption is also becoming stricter. With the power limit, the order of downstream industries such as coating, plastics, clothing and textile, foreign trade processing industry, and other industries are suppressed. So, the transaction atmosphere in the market is not positive.

With the accumulation of inventory, the price has a trend of moving downward. With the temperature drop in the fourth quarter, the production and sales of many industries have entered into the off-season, and they have resistance to the high cost of upstream raw materials. At the same time, with the mentality of buying at the use and not buying at decreasing, the purchase is very limited and a shrinkage in the transaction is very obvious. With downstream customers continuing to negotiate for discount prices, the market transaction is at a dead block. With the transaction pressure and pessimistic views on the market, some chemical enterprises have prices continuously.

Some chemical enterprises said that for the last two months of 2021, the focus is no longer on securing more orders but to maintain a stable capital chain. With the uncertain industry situation, chemical enterprises choose to stabilize the old customers. For the new customers, they will only receive cash orders. They may also limit production and sales to avoid risks and maintain a stable capital chain to the greatest extent. Prices are no longer the key at the present. How to ensure to pass the winter safely and continue to spend in 2022 is the key.

chemical plant

How is the impact of power limit on the chemical industry

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Recently, the Dual Control System of Total Energy Consumption and Energy Intensity has lit a Red Light in many provinces of China. The provinces named by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have taken measures to solve the energy consumption problem since there are only 4 months to the year’s end. Guangdong, Jiangsu, and other major chemical provinces made strict policies to limit using of electricity and limit production to thousands of enterprises. Why there are energy limits and production limits? What impacts will it have on China’s chemical industry?

Many provinces pull the plug, cut the power, and limit the production

Recently, many provinces such as Jiangsu, Guangdong, Yunnan, Qinghai, Ningxia, Henan, Chongqing, Guangxi, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and others started to carry out power control measures for dual-energy consumption to meet control targets. Electricity restriction measure has gradually spread from the central and western regions of China to the eastern Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, etc.

Henan: The electricity limit will be for more than three weeks for some processing enterprises

Sichuan: Suspension of non-necessary production load, lighting load, and office load.

Chongqing: Some factories cut power and stopped production in early August.

Inner Mongolia: The electricity price would be increased by not more than 10%.

Qinghai: An early warning of the power limit is announced, and the area of the power limit continues to expand.

Ningxia: The power for high-level energy-consuming enterprises will be limited for a month.

Shaanxi: The power limit will be extended to the end of the year. Yulin city will limit the production of dual high enterprises to the level of 50-60%,

Yunnan: Two rounds of power limit have been launched. The average monthly output of industrial silicon from September to December shall be limited to less than 10% of August output (i.e., 90% reduction); the average monthly output of yellow phosphorus shall be limited to 10% of August 2021 output (i.e., 90% reduction).

Guangxi: Guangxi has introduced new dual control measures, requiring enterprises with the production of electrolytic aluminum, aluminum oxide, steel, and cement to limit their production starting from September

Shandong: there is a power limit of 9 hours daily, mainly from 15:00-24:00, the shortcoming time continued to September, and the power limit measures would be implemented

Jiangsu: In early September, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology carried out special energy conservation supervision for enterprises with more than 50,000 tons of standard coal annually. In the cluster area of printing and dyeing, more than 1,000 enterprises will produce for two days and stop production for two days.

Zhejiang: Production will be stopped for the key energy-consuming enterprises until September 30.

Anhui: There is a power shortage of 2.5 million kilowatts, and it is decided to start an orderly electricity consumption plan from September 22.

Guangdong: From September 16, the electricity plan work for two days and stopped for 5 days was implemented

Reasons for a power cut and production limit or shutdown

 

In essence, the power cut is due to the shortage of coal and power. The national coal output is almost the same in as 2019, but the power generation is increasing. The coal inventory of various power plants is significantly in recent years. The reasons behind the coal shortage are as follows:

1. In the early coal supply-side reform, open-air coal mines and some small coal mines with safety problems were closed. With good coal demand this year, the coal supply was quite tight.

2. The export is very good this year, and the electricity consumption from light industry enterprises and the low-end manufacturing industry is rising. But the power plants consume large amounts of coal. The high price of coal has increased the production cost of power plants, which makes power plants at a deficit.

3. The import of coal has changed from Australia to other countries. There is an increase in the import cost and global coal is also at a high price.

Following is a diagram oChina’sna coal output in recent years

Coal output

 

Why not expand the coal supply, but rather limit the power?

The total power generation in 2021 is not low. In the first half of the year, 20-year earnings generated 3,871.7 billion kilowatt-hours, which is twice that of the United States. Meanwhile, China’s export has increased extremely rapidly this year.

 

According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs, China’s total import and export of foreign trade reached 3.43 trillion yuan in August, up by 18.9% compared to 2020. And the positive growth has been last for 15 consecutive months in the first eight months of 2021, China’s total imports and exports reached 24.78 trillion yuan, up by 23.7% year on year and 22.8% over the same period in 2019.

 

The reason for the export increase is that affected by the epidemic, the production in many countries is not normal, so the production task in China increases. With the increase in export, the demand for raw materials also increased. The import of commodities products also soared. From the end of 2020, the increase in steel price is caused by the price increase of iron ore and iron fine powder which are imported from other countries. The main production means in the manufacturing industry are raw materials and electricity. With the production task increases, China’s electricity demand continues to increase. Why not expand the coal supply, but instead limit electricity? On the one hand, the demand for power generation is increasing, while the cost of power generation is also increasing. Since the beginning of 2021, the supply and demand of domestic coal continues to be tight. The price of thermal coal is high during the low season. Coal prices have risen sharply and maintained a high level. With the high price, the production and sales costs of power enterprises are seriously inverted. And the operating pressure of power enterprises is prominent. According to the data of CLP, the unit cost of standard coal for large power generation groups has increased by 50.5% year on year. But the electricity price has remained the same. The loss of coal power enterprises was significantly increased, and the whole industry is at the loss. It is estimated that the loss of every power generation will exceed 0.1 yuan for every 1 watt. And 100 million kilowatts will lose at least 10 million yuan. For large power generation enterprises, their monthly loss will be over 10000 million yuan. On the one hand, the coal price remains high, on the other hand, the price of electricity is controlled by the government. So, it is difficult for power plants to have a balance. Thus, some power plants would rather generate less electricity. On the other hand, achieving the completion of industrial transformation requirements is urgent. China has to eliminate backward production capacity and implement supply-side reform. To realize the dual-carbon target and environmental protection need, as well as another important aim which is to realize industrial transformation. This is to change from traditional energy-cost production to emerging energy-saving production. In recent years, China has been working to reach this goal. But from last year, due to the epidemic, the demand and task of high energy-consuming products under high have increased. With the epidemic raging and global manufacturing stalled, large manufacturing orders are returning to the mainland. This leads to high consumption of power in the first 3 quarters of 2021. Also, the price of raw materials, which price is dominated by international capital has soared in 2021 leading to a high production cost. In addition, for domestic and global environmental protection, China will need efficient production capacity in the future. To reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of traditional industries, large-scale technological innovation and device transformation are needed. Thus, in short term, achieving the dual control goal, power, and production limit is a way for traditional industries to achieve the goal. In addition, the inflation risks can be prevented tons a certain degree with the high soaring global price of iron, copper, oil, grain, and beans.

 

The Chinese government has been working hard for dual control of energy consumption for environmental protection. Due to the orders back to China from the inning of 2021, the busy production has totaled a high-power consumption which is out of the excitation. After the review for the first 3 quarters, the energy consumption in many provinces is much higher. The consumption for the last 3 quarters already reaches the amount for the whole year.   The main energy-consuming projects are mainly in six industries, including petrochemical, coal power, chemical, steel, and non-ferrous metal smelting building materials. With the over-consumed energy and power, many provinces have adopted the production and power limit policy and these lead to the enterprises feeling unprepared.

 

What is the effect on the different industries?

 

With the background of sudden power and production limit from provincial governments, the chemical industry index has a sharp rise, different chemical raw materials have soared in price, and many related stock-listed companies also have the daily raising limit frequently. According to the Business agency, the chemical index was 1137 on September 1 and 1262 on September 30. This is a record high in the cycle.  Compared with the lowest point of 598 points on Apri08, 202020, the index has risen by 111.04%. (Note: Period to 2011-12-01 till)

 

The new high price in the chemical industry is mainly due to the dual control and power restriction policy. As there are 9 provinces and autonomous regions whose energy consumption was much up in the first 3 quarter year on year! And another 10 provinces’ energy consumption reduction rate cannot meet the requirements. This means the target of dual control is not reached in the first half year. So, every province has the heavy task to take new measures to ensure the realization of the whole year’s target.

In 2020, due to COVID-19, global economic activities have been greatly affected. the poor demand leads to the low prices of crude oil and bulk chemicals downstream. While in 2021, with the gradual control of the epidemic and recovery of global business, education has recovered much, and demand also increase. As per the monitoring industry data of the business agency, it can be seen that the price of many chemical sub-industries has increased in 2021, and some are up by more than 100% year on year.

 

As per the data, the price of 79 kinds of products in the chemical sector increased on September 2 with 021, 57 of them increasing more than 5%. the top three commodities with price increases were phosphate (161.44%), yellow phosphorus (108.70%,) and caustic soda (90.00%).

There were 18 products with price declines, and 6 products down by more than 5%. The top 3 declines were butadiene (-33.32%), butanol (industrial grade) (-33.62%), and Iso octanol (-30.90%).

 

Product Industry Early Sep., price Late Sep., price Unit Monthly increase or decrease
Phosphoric acid Chemical 1195.3125 3125 USD/MT 161.44%
Yellow Phosphorus Chemical 4492.1875 9375 USD/MT 108.70%
Caustic Soda Chemical 101.5625 192.96875 USD/MT 90%
DMC(Silicone) Chemical 5859.375 9890.625 USD/MT 68.80%
R134A Chemical 3489.53125 5755.15625 USD/MT 64.93%
Silicone Adjuvant Chemical 5300 8700 USD/MT 64.15%
Acetic anhydride Chemical 1507.8125 2335.9375 USD/MT 54.92%
Epichlorohydrin Chemical 2260.3125 3317.65625 USD/MT 46.77%
Acrylic Acid Chemical 2307.1875 2869.6875 USD/MT 24.36%
Propylene Glycol Chemical 2666.5625 3296.875 USD/MT 23.63%
Rutile Titanium Dioxide Chemical 3050 3200 USD/MT 4.92%

 

In September, the price of phosphorus chemical price has reached a ten-year high. Except the phosphorus ammonium market remains stable at a high price, phosphate and phosphate ore have a sharp increase after yellow phosphorus. Under the dual control policy, yellow phosphorus-related enterprises have serious limits in electricity and production capacity, thus the tight market supply situation cannot be changed in a short time. But till the end of September, most phosphorus chemical products have risen to a high level. Downstream enterprises need to be more cautious for take in new raw materials. In general, there could be a certain pullback in the phosphorus chemical, but in a short time, it may remain at a high price.

 

Besides phosphorous chemicals, the acetic acid industry also has a big increase in September. The price of acetate products rose by 47.69%. Its upstream raw material methanol has increased by 37.86%. And downstream acetic anhydride by 54.92%, EVA increased by 38.82%, ethyl acetate by 25.23%, and PTA by 3.49%. Affected by the dual control policy, many acetic acid industry chain enterprises have stopped production and price has increased much. After the China National Holiday, with the production recovery in October, the supply and demand of the acetate industry chain have been eased. According to the statistics of the production plan of the acetic industry, the supply growth in October is expected to be more than the growth of demand, and the price of the acetate industry is expected to drop some in October.

 

In addition, the price of the Chlor-alkali sector in the chemical industry has also increased, with caustic soda rising by 90% in September, calcium carbide by 39.45%, PVC by 34.45%, and soda by 34.05%. With the dual control policy, the production capacity of the chlorine-alkali industry in October is expected to be relatively low. With the relatively tight supply and the high price of raw materials, it is expected that the prices of soda, caustic soda, and baking soda would be stable at a high level. The actual situation will be depended on the demand.

 

Besides the basic chemical, chemical products such as organic pigments (Pigment Red 122, Pigment Violet 19, Pigment Yellow 74, Pigment Yellow 12), Anatase titanium Dioxide, Silicone leveling agents, Dimethicone, and optical brighteners all have price increases at different ranges.

 

The recent large-scale power restriction would have a big impact on the manufacturing industry, and long-term environmental protection policies still exist, the price rise of commodity prices will be transmitted downstream, which will squeeze the profit and living space of the downstream enterprise. In addition, the control of the high energy consumption industry is a long-term trend, so the short-term policy will only affect the production limit time and the trend for energy saving will not be changed. Therefore, with the inflation risk in the fourth quarter, the traditionally high-demanded months will lead to a further price increase of chemical products. in the background of a global energy shortage, product prices have e rising trend, but the height of the chemical market would be subject to the demand situation.

titanium dioxide for paint 1

Why price of TiO2 is highest in last 10 years?

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What is function of Titanium Dioxide in paint, ink and plastics?

Titanium dioxide is mainly used raw material in formulation of coatings, ink and plastics. 60% of the application of titanium dioxide is in coating globally , especially rutile titanium dioxide. The paint with titanium dioxide as raw material has high hiding power, bright colors, high tinting power, and low dosage.,etc. It can protect the stability of paint, enhance the adhesion and mechanical strength of paint film. It can also prevent ultraviolet rays, the cracks and moisture penetration, which can extend the life of the paint film.

 

What is latest situation of titanium dioxide production in China?

As per statistics, there are 41 full-process producers of titanium dioxide can maintain normal production across China and their output can reach 3.18 million tons, with a year-on-year increase of 7.69%.

Data

Till 2019, in the total capacity of 3,180,000 tons titanium dioxide, Rutile titanium dioxide has an output of 2,545,000 tons,which accounts for 80.01%; Anatase titanium dioxide has an output of 518,000 tons, which accounts for 16.28%; Non pigment grade and other grades have an output of 118,000 tons, which account for 3.71%

Data

From the area of production output, the area mainly focuses in Sichuan, Anhui, and Shandong. They are the top three in China’s titanium dioxide production capacity.　From the statistics of China’s titanium dioxide production areas, from January to November 2019, Sichuan, Shandong, and Anhui ranked the top three in titanium dioxide production, accounting for 22%, 17%, and 12% of the total domestic production, respectively.

Data

 

With the quality improvement of China’s titanium dioxide and shortage in capacity of foreign titanium dioxide, the export of China titanium dioxide have continued to increase in recent years. In 2018, export volume has reached 907,200 tons. The countries exported to include the United States, India and Brazil. In terms of imports, China’s annual import of titanium dioxide was around 209,200 tons. The main countries imported from are Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom, etc. The titanium dioxide imported are mainly medium and high-end grades. Following is the change of import and export volume from year 2010 to 2019.

Data

How is the sharp increase of TIO2 price since Year 2020?

In 2020, the annual production capacity of titanium dioxide in China has reached 4,17 0,000tons. The largest producer in China Titanium Dioxide industry is Lomon Billion in terms of production capacity. In recent years, Lomon Billions has started the acquisition of small and medium-sized titanium dioxide companies with a total capacity over 1,000,000 tons and has occupied 24.22% of the total market share in China by 2020. The market share of CNNC ranks second in China, with a total output of 340,000tons, which accounts for 8.39% of the total market share.

From the end of March to mid-April 2021, the price of titanium dioxide in China has new increases . The top companies both in China and Abroad have announced new price increase together, and many titanium dioxide producers have issued price increase notice to customers, such as Lomon Billion Titanium Dioxide, Huiyun Titanium Dioxide, CNNC Titanium Dioxide, and Jinpu Titanium Dioxide.,etc. In general, from July 2020,the price of titanium dioxide has risen for 10 months continuously. And the price has reached a new high since 2018, which is close to the level in year 2010.

Since July 2020, with the price increase of titanium ore, and the recovery of domestic and foreign demand, the price of titanium dioxide has gradually risen from the early stumble. Till Q1 of 2021, the TIO2 price gets three consecutive increases. The top company has issued price increase announcements for 7 consecutive times. This drives the price increase the the whole titanium dioxide industry. It also shows there is a steady boom in the titanium dioxide industry.

Data

As per China Media, the EXW price of main suppliers of Rutile TiO2 in China is around RMB18200-19800 per ton in March, price of anatase titnaium dioxide is around RMB15000-16500 per ton, and price of Chloride grade Titanium Dioxide is RMB 19000-20700 per ton.

Data

 

What are the main reasons for the price rising of Titanium Dioxide from China since 2020?

In general, there are mainly two supporting aspects in this round of price recovery in the titanium dioxide industry. The first reason is the fast increase of oversea demand. Coating and paint market is the major market for titanium dioxide. For example, in the United States, the number of newly built private residential houses have hit a record high in 2020. Meanwhile, the overseas capacity supply and the operation rate of titanium dioxide is limited due to Covid 19. These have formed a strong pull on the export of China’s titanium dioxide. The second reason is that there is a downturn in the titanium dioxide industry during the past few years , and the global and China titanium dioxide giants have accelerated acquisitions and mergers, which leads to a high industry concentration in titanium dioxide..

From the global TiO2 capacity perspective, the market share of global giant leaders has decreased and China TIO2 suppliers have speed up their seizing of overseas markets. Affected by the Covid 19, both sales and production of major global titanium dioxide manufacturers has declined. The sales growth rates of Tronox,Chemours, Venator and Kronos in the first year of 2020 were: -12%,+5%, -11% and -14% respectively. Chinese companies accelerated seizing of global market share of titanium dioxide. The supply of global TIO2 leaders will be still limited, and there is very less new titanium dioxide supply volume from China.

But with the gradual recovery of main global economies, the demand for TIO2 is going up. Also, both real estate in China and US are on the increasing side. So, it is expected that the total global demand on titanium dioxide will be higher than in 2020 by 7-8%. The intensity and sustainability of 2021 titanium dioxide boom is very optimistic.

From January to March 2021, the output of China titanium dioxide was 943,000 tons, and the year-on-year increase is 41.5%; and export quantity was 201,000 tons, and the year-on-year increase is 15.5%; The import volume of titanium ore from January to February was 631,000 tons, and the year-on-year increase is 14.8%. The global titanium dioxide manufacturers are not stable in output due to raw material problems, but downstream demand is increasing globally. Coupled with price increase of Titnaium ore and slag, the titanium dioxide price is about to break through the historical highs.Now It is just-needed stocking season from end-users, and the orders from major paint manufacturers in Q2 are signed at high prices. It is expected that the titanium dioxide industry will maintain a high boom Q1 and Q2 of 2021.

Data

Till currently, the price of titanium dioxide is around USD3100-3200 from different factories, and the production plan is till May and June. The price still remains high. The local demand from China and overseas demand keeps stable, most China suppliers of titanium dioxide are still positive with the price trend in Q3 and Q4 of 2021. Meanwhile, the environmental control in Shandong and Anhui province will make the supply still be short, and there is still price increase space in the coming months.

In addition to the factors of foreign demand and raw material increase, China’s production capacity upgrade is another major driving factor that has led to such a fierce price increase cycle for titanium dioxide.

According to datas, China has the largest production capacity of titanium dioxide in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2019,  the production capacity of China’s titanium dioxide has accounted for 45.3% of the global total production capacity. But from the perspective of capacity of a single company, there are still many small companies with an annual capacity less than 100,000 tons.

According to the statistics, by the end of 2020, China has 42 full-process titanium dioxide production companies. Among them, 12 titanium dioxide enterprises have an output over 100,000 tons in 2020, and 30 of them have production capacity less than 100,000 tons. The total production capacity of titanium dioxide from those who produce more than 100,000 tons is around 2.5722 million tons. It accounts for 73.24% of the total output in China titanium dioxide industry in 2020.

Data

 

As per industry expert, the titanium dioxide companies in China are in the stage of prodcution line upgrade and capacity expansion at present. Now the production process of titanium dioxide  is still dominated by the sulfuric acid method, and around 42.5% of the global titanium dioxide are produced by the chloride process. But in China, there are 84% of the production capacity by sulfuric acid method which has high pollution. With China’s environmental protection policies becoming stricter, many small production lines have been shut down, and the construction speed of new production capacity has also been restricted. Thus, the total production capacity by sulfuric acid method has declined in recent years.

In addition, from 2021 to 2023,there is almost no new global titanium dioxide capacity in other countries. Along with production line upgrade and supply reduction, the Matthew effect will be intensified globally.

What would be the price trend of China Titanium Dioxide for the Q2,Q3,Q4 of 2021?

From current supply and demand situation in China and abroad, the price would still be remaining on higher side. As the supply situation out of China is still in tight, with Covid-19 situation becomes more serious in some countries. And there would be new demand comes up after economy recovery from those countries with better control and vaccine taking. Let’s expect a more virtuous supply and demand circle in titanium dioxide industry and chemical industry.