How Healthy
is China’s TiO2 Market?
While China has risen to become the largest producer of TiO2 in the world, the market is
burdened by over supply and increasing price pressure.
by Chris Wu, CCM International Ltd.
The strong demand for titanium dioxide (TiO2) in recent has spurred China’s capacity and output of TiO2 to in- crease quickly. In 2010 China became the largest TiO2
producer in the world. During the first half of 2011, with 61 active producers, China’s capacity of TiO2 reached 2,192,000 tons
per annum with an output of 862,600 tons.
Along with increased output and improved quality, China has
also become the largest net exporter of TiO2. In the first half of
2011, China's export volume of TiO2 was 234,900 tons and import volume was 135,691 tons.
At the same time, after experiencing a year of sharp increases, the
domestic price of rutile TiO2 in China reached USD3088/t, which set
a new record. However, prices have dropped in the past two months.
Despite such positive growth indicators, China's production
technology is outdated, and most of China's producers adopt a
sulfate process to produce TiO2. With blind capacity expansion,
China's TiO2 industry is now burdened by overcapacity as well
as stiff domestic competition. (See Figure 1 Capacity and output
of TiO2 in China, 2006~H1, 2011)
66 | Coatings World
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October 2011
