Titanium Dioxide Industry Began to Recover Worldwidely

　　TiO2 pigment producers will be looking for a better year in 2010 after the horrors of 2009. Markets fell away in the first half of last year, which saw some producers slash production and close poorly performing operations in order to rein in supply and cut costs.

　　Markets for titanium dioxide (TiO2) are gently picking up as pigment producers start to ramp production back up and re-stock, according to industry sources.

　　Coatings producers have begun to buy pigment to meet the anticipated rise in demand in the spring and summer months in the Northern Hemisphere.

　　According to figures reported by Australian consultancy, TZMI Ltd, pigment trade volumes at the end of Q3 and into Q4 last year, increased to 85% of what they were in 2008, compared with 60% earlier in the year.

　　These figures are borne out by US chemicals company DuPont’s Q4 results which saw its performance chemicals segment sales increase by 9% in the quarter, primarily driven by the titanium dioxide markets in all regions.

　　Titanium dioxide pigment is often cited as an indicator of whether an economy is growing or contracting as it is used in consumer goods, house paints and automotive coatings.

　　DuPont Chairman and CEO Ellen Kullman aptly described it as “the canary in the mine” in a recent presentation to analysts.She also noted that US housing starts are expected to increase by 30% this year, after bottoming out in 2009 after several years of steep decline, and predicted 10% growth in world automobile production in 2010. Both are key end markets for titanium dioxide pigment.

　　Up until the end of 2009, pigment producers’ had struggled to capture price hikes as the global pigment price remained fairly steady throughout the year (IM 26 November 2009: TiO2 hikes met with resistance).

　　This year, Huntsman Corp. is the latest producer to put forward another hike, with an announcement in mid-January of a price increases across the regions including €100/tonne in Europe, $0.6 per lb in North America and $150/tonne in Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and Middle East. The increase is effective immediately or as contracts permit.

　　The bottom end of the range of pigment prices in Asia has lifted slightly, mainly on the back of improving Chinese demand from $2,615/tonne to $2,850/tonne, bulk volumes CFR Asia (IM 12 January 2010: China continues TiO2 drive).

　　Meanwhile, North European prices have edged up, mostly on the back of currency fluctuations, up to $2,175-2,425/tonne, from $2,155-2,400/tonne for bulk volumes, CFR Northern Europe.

　　From the above facts, we can see that the demand for tio2 in the whole world is increasing and tio2 market is resuming its growth gradually. Thus, the author believes that the year 2010 must be unusual to tio2 industry and it＇s reasonable for us to be optimistic about the prospects of global tio2 market.

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