Domestic titanium dioxide prices took back to the roller coaster

The chlorination process is the mainstream process for the production of titanium dioxide in developed countries. In China, the severely polluted ** method is still unified, accounting for 98.5% of the production capacity. The picture shows the production workshop of a certain titanium dioxide company.

Since this year, domestic and foreign titanium dioxide companies have raised prices several times. Rutile titanium dioxide prices from the beginning of the year's 16500 yuan / ton, all the way soared to the end of July to 22500 yuan / ton, just over half a year's time increase of 36.4%, becoming one of the hottest varieties of inorganic chemicals.

However, starting from August, the price of domestic titanium dioxide has turned sharply, and some manufacturers of rutile titanium dioxide has fallen below 20,000 yuan / ton, and there is a downward trend. Right now, the traditional "Golden 9 Silver 10" gold production and sales season of titanium dioxide, the company has said that the price really can not rise.

In just half a year, how have domestic titanium dioxide prices rise and fall? Insiders have expressed their opinions on this. We have roughly summarized these views and concluded that readers can clearly see the clues.

In the international market, supply demand stimulated prices to temporarily catch up with Deng Jie, deputy secretary-general of the Titanium Dioxide Industry Branch of China National Coatings Industry Association. In the past 10 years, in addition to the domestic titanium dioxide production capacity, the production capacity in the international market has hardly increased, and the financial crisis broke out in 2008. Titanium dioxide plants around the world are closed and idle. Data show that in 2008 the global production of titanium dioxide was 4.942 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.34%. The year-on-year decline in 2009 was 15%. In March 2011, the Great Earthquake in Japan led to the suspension of production of a titanium dioxide plant and the supply of titanium dioxide decreased by about 50,000 tons.

Lin Guixian, an intermediate researcher at Western America International Co., Ltd.: After the financial crisis, all countries took active financial remedial measures and financial stimulus programs, and the demand for titanium dioxide in various countries began to recover. By the end of 2010, the demand for titanium dioxide in some new markets has even exceeded the highest level in history.

DuPont is the world leader in titanium dioxide, and its product quality is also one of the top in the world. In the first half of this year, DuPont has raised prices several times. Its rise has driven global companies to follow up. According to statistics, the price increase of overseas titanium dioxide from January to May overall exceeded 30%. By June, the overseas titanium dioxide price had exceeded 3,600 U.S. dollars per ton, and the sales price in the terminal market in mainland China was as high as 33,000 yuan per ton. Even so, the demand for titanium dioxide in the international market remains high. According to statistics, the international giant Connors produced 275,000 tons of titanium dioxide in the first half of the year, with a capacity utilization rate of 103%, and production increased by 6.6% year-on-year; Huntsman's sales of titanium dioxide increased by 9% year-on-year. At the same time, the main reason for the year-on-year decrease in the import volume of titanium dioxide in China is also the increase in demand for overseas titanium dioxide and the shortage of titanium dioxide.

Zhuo Chuang, analyst of Titanium Dioxide, Wang Tingting: In the situation that the international market is in short supply, foreign titanium dioxide purchasers have come to China for a large number of purchases. From January to July this year, China's cumulative export of titanium dioxide was 256,000 tons, an increase of 98.3% year-on-year. With a substantial increase in export volume, imports have continued to decline. Domestic titanium dioxide companies have seized this opportunity to increase the price of titanium dioxide. At the same time, titanium concentrate production of titanium concentrate production enterprises after 20 years of bleak business, the first half also took the opportunity to significantly increase the price of titanium concentrates. In the first half of the year, in addition to the contract price, the price of titanium concentrates in the international market increased by US$260/tonne; the prices in the domestic market rose by 1,800 yuan/tonne, or more than 100%. From the beginning of the year, 1,200 yuan rose to nearly 3,000 yuan. The continued rise in titanium concentrates has caused titanium dioxide companies to further raise prices.

Business Society titanium dioxide analyst Yang Xun: In the first half of 2011, the titanium dioxide market was booming and prices were rising rapidly. The majority of domestic titanium dioxide enterprises had operating rates of more than 90%. In Jiangxi, Yunnan, and Shandong, several new production plants have started due to shortage of raw materials. Domestic titanium dioxide prices rose by 6,000 yuan per ton in six months or more, an increase of 36.4%. Such a rapid price increase is rare. Domestic rutile titanium dioxide prices reached 22,500 yuan / ton, a record high price. According to estimates, the cost of domestic gamma rutile type titanium dioxide is less than 8,000 yuan/ton, and it can be said that the domestic titanium dioxide company in the first half of the year is earning money.

The domestic market has been dragged down by prices and eventually fell. Business Society Titanium Dioxide Analyst Yang Xun: The demand for titanium dioxide 60% comes from paint, which is closely related to the real estate industry. However, the situation in the real estate industry is not optimistic. The progress of affordable housing that has been pinned by the market does not seem to be smooth. It is understood that the total number of affordable housing starts this year may even exceed the target of 10 million sets, but the clear goal is behind the vague progress. The newly started affordable housing project cannot be effectively transferred to investment and construction, and the security housing is currently in the stage of “quick start-up and limited investment”. At the same time, behind the protection of high housing starts, there is a risk of slowdown in the start-up of commercial housing. If we remove the year and the start of the year, the cumulative year-on-year growth of new housing starts has begun to decline rapidly in the first half of the year, and the growth rate of new housing starts in July has slid to negative 9%.

Ningbo Hongwei, deputy general manager of Masterbatch Co., Ltd.: Titanium dioxide rose and then rose, but the plastic products are subject to demand control prices will not rise, resulting in the price of masterbatch also rise weak. The higher the output of the masterbatch, the higher the loss. With regard to price increases, downstream plastics companies can't accept it, so masterbatch companies can only be forced to cut production and stop production. Most of the downstream companies that are still operating now are also purchasing on demand.

Not only did the downstream domestic purchase of titanium dioxide decrease, foreign customers also began to reduce the purchase of domestic titanium dioxide because of the ridiculous price of domestic titanium dioxide. According to customs statistics, the average price of titanium dioxide imports rose 16.4% in the first half of this year, but the average export price rose by 36.8% over the same period. Starting from July, the domestic titanium dioxide export volume showed a downward trend, with the export volume of 36,300 tons, a decrease of 9.68% compared with the previous period.

Domestic companies have reduced the purchase of titanium dioxide since June. Most paint manufacturers' inventory of titanium dioxide decreased from one month's reserve to half a month. Small downstream manufacturers even reduced the inventory of titanium dioxide to three or five days. According to conservative estimates, domestic titanium dioxide 6

Monthly sales decreased by 30,000 to 40,000 tons year-on-year, and some titanium dioxide manufacturers have been slow to sell.

Zhou Jiezhong, general manager of Changzhou Zhongbao Plastics & Metals Co., Ltd.: With domestic and foreign market demands shrinking, domestic titanium dioxide enterprises have high inventory. After a period of stalemate with downstream companies, titanium dioxide enterprises are constrained by inventory, 8 At the beginning of the month, prices showed signs of loosening. Large companies lead price cuts. Titanium dioxide leading enterprise Sichuan Longhao Group's rutile titanium dioxide grade R-996 dropped to 22,000 yuan per ton in August, and suddenly fell to 19,800 yuan per ton on September 8, and fell further to September 22 18500 yuan / ton. Stimulated by its price cuts, domestic producers have successively cut prices.

Zhuo Chuang Information Titanium dioxide analyst Wang Tingting: Titanium dioxide prices due to downstream demand pressure on the market, there are also titanium ore and other cost-cutting factors. Based on data from Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hainan, the price of grade 46 titanium concentrate fell from a high of 3,000 yuan/ton to 2,130 yuan/ton, and the price of grade 44 to 45 fell to 1,925 yuan/ton, and there is still a further decline. the trend of.

Midwest International Co., Ltd. Intermediate Researcher Lin Guixian: It is estimated that the titanium dioxide market from September to October will have a larger downside. ** The average price of the rutile-type titanium dioxide industry has dropped to 18,000 yuan/ton, which is entirely possible. It is expected that the domestic titanium dioxide market will not improve until the end of this year. Now there is a part of the titanium dioxide business inventory, titanium dioxide production line can not just stop, a parking loss of several hundred thousand dollars, so the inventory must find a home. The downstream manufacturers do not buy up or buy down, a look at the price fell even more do not buy, are waiting to see how much you need to buy how much, will not buy too much, so that the titanium dioxide company's inventory will be higher, further aggravated product prices The decline. Originally, the downstream enterprises did not get the money to pay the money, and now it is not necessarily feasible for titanium dioxide companies to find downstream companies to sell their products.

In order to solve the problem of high inventory, many small titanium dioxide companies have started to stop maintenance. In previous years, it was now in the season of sales, and maintenance was all after the Spring Festival. However, even if the price of titanium dioxide is reduced, the profit margin of titanium dioxide enterprises is still quite large, because the cost price of titanium dioxide is also 78,000 yuan per ton, even if the finished product price drops to 18,000 yuan per ton, there are still 1 million profit.

Firms can really adjust their prices to stay tuned. Gong Jiazhu, general manager of Chengdu Thousands of Gold Science and Technology Innovation Co., Ltd.: I do not deny that the downstream market is in the doldrums, but I think that the decline in titanium dioxide prices is not entirely due to downstream demand. Although we say the market in Europe and the United States is sluggish, we will find more construction sites in Europe than we used to. For example, the old city of Paris has not been rebuilt for decades. Now, in order to stimulate demand, it is also being rebuilt. Another example is that although the real estate market is relatively sluggish, but so many houses have been built, the total decoration is needed. Therefore, I think that the demand for titanium dioxide is rigid.

But why can the price of large international companies mention it again, and domestic companies can not mention it on several occasions and have begun to decline? I think the main reason is that domestic companies themselves have disrupted the market.

The market economy of European countries and the United States is relatively perfect, and DuPont and other large foreign companies have long-term contracts and act on good reputation. However, some domestic companies are not the same, do not act according to the laws of market economy, do not rely on reputation, and all sign temporary contracts. Once there is a chance of price increases, the prices will go horribly far and the previously signed contracts with downstream companies will be abandoned. Paper, causing great price fluctuations.

The domestic low-end titanium dioxide products have already been surplus, but the mainstream practice of titanium dioxide companies is to stay at the low end, and the capacity expansion is still accelerating. With the rapid rise in prices, production capacity has also expanded dramatically. In the first half of the year, a number of projects in Jiangxi, Shandong, and Yunnan were put into operation, and titanium dioxide production capacity increased by hundreds of thousands of tons. Domestic companies with some strengths want to be the largest in the country and are expanding production. However, the domestic titanium resources support the current production of titanium dioxide has become a problem. In 2010, the production of nearly 1.5 million tons of titanium dioxide in China required 3 million tons of titanium concentrate, of which more than 2 million tons of titanium concentrate was imported and the import volume had exceeded 60%. Titanium resources are not enough in itself. Titanium dioxide enterprises are still desperately expanding production. Isn't the market becoming more and more chaotic?

Sun Peng, general manager of Shandong Dongjia Group Co., Ltd.: There are more than 70 domestic titanium dioxide enterprises. Today, except for the Jinzhou Titanium Industry, which is a chlorination process, other companies are sulfuric acid. The use of sulfuric acid method for the production of 1 ton of titanium dioxide, it will produce 85 tons of waste water, waste gas 40,000 cubic meters, solid waste 3.5 tons, as well as waste acid, waste alkali, ferrous sulfate and so on. While causing great harm to the environment, a single production process and a similar device level have also caused serious homogenization of products, and have lost the competitiveness with foreign high-end products. They can only rely on low prices to stabilize the market and among domestic counterparts. The formation of a great deal of bad competition and internal friction, the ability to resist market and policy risks is very low. Originally relying on low prices and not relying on quality to dominate the market, prices have risen again and again this year, which is less than the recognition of downstream customers. The price drop is inevitable.

Liu Changhe, Head of the Expert Group of China National Coatings Industry Association Titanium Dioxide Industry Branch: The "Guidance Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2011 Edition)" revised by the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments of the State Council was issued on March 27, one of which was June 1. After the date of the ** method, titanium dioxide is not allowed to build a new production line, and only technological transformation is allowed. The original intention of the country was to adjust the structure and the result was counterproductive. The new catalog promotes ** titanium dioxide to accelerate production expansion. Before June 1st of this year, some TiO 2 projects were squeezed into the plate to complete the project and EIA. The Panzhihua area in Sichuan has grown from 350,000 tons to 500,000 tons, and Guangxi Tengxian has grown from 130,000 tons to 350,000 tons. Inadequate adjustment of industrial adjustment policies will lead to greater difficulty in follow-up industrial restructuring.

Bi Sheng, Secretary-General of the National Titanium Dioxide Center of the National Productivity Promotion Center of the Chemical Industry: There is a certain gap between China's titanium dioxide quality and technology and the international advanced level. In the international market, domestic titanium dioxide is mainly sold to underdeveloped regions, and only used in low-end markets in developed countries. It is in the domestic high-end market that domestic titanium dioxide is also inaccessible, such as the surface coating of automobiles. In terms of process, the domestic titanium dioxide industry is lagging behind. Titanium dioxide production process is divided into ** and chlorination two. The domestic titanium dioxide company's production process almost all use the ** method. The domestic titanium dioxide production capacity is 2.3 million tons, the output reached 1.474 million tons, and the output of the chlorination method is still less than 2%. Among the nearly 70 titanium dioxide manufacturers in China, only the Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group's Jinzhou Titanium Group employs the chlorination process. The titanium dioxide in the chlorination process in advanced countries accounts for 60% to 70% of the total production capacity. The ** method is behind the production process, long process, high energy consumption, large pollutant emissions, low product quality, has been included in the state to restrict the development of the industry. The chlorination method has low energy consumption, less “three wastes” and high product quality, and is a process that the country encourages to develop. The titanium dioxide industry is in urgent need of structural adjustments that aim at the conversion of the two processes. If the technology is not upgraded, product quality will not improve, and in the future market competition, it will not only fail to share the high-end market, but may also encounter a more severe situation.

Xu Gang, chairman of Henan Lilien Chemical Co., Ltd.: Although the domestic price of titanium dioxide continues to rise, there is still a big gap with the internationally renowned titanium dioxide companies. At present, the global titanium dioxide production capacity is about 6 million tons, of which the production capacity of the top seven producers accounts for nearly 70% of the total global production capacity, and the production areas are mainly concentrated in the traditional titanium dioxide major consumer markets such as North America and Western Europe. Among them, DuPont 1.17 million tons, Coste 800,000 tons, Konos 570,000 tons, Huntsman 560,000 tons, Turner 530,000 tons, Sakhalimoto 235,000 tons, Ishihara 230,000 tons. As a leader in the titanium dioxide industry, these large companies dominate the global supply, price and development of titanium dioxide.

From the domestic perspective, after the development of titanium dioxide in recent years, the scale of titanium dioxide in China has increased, and several companies with a capacity of 100,000 tons have emerged. However, the entire industry has not changed the situation where the scale is small and the production concentration is not high. Among the nearly 70 companies, most of them have a production capacity of 10,000 to 20,000 tons and 50,000 tons have more than 10 companies. To reach the 100,000-ton scale, only Shandong Dongjia, Sichuan Longxi, and Henan Lililian are among several companies. .

In 2010, the total production of titanium dioxide in China was 1.474 million tons, accounting for about 27% of the total amount of titanium dioxide in the world. The output of the top ten companies accounted for 45.74% of the total output, and the concentration was very low. As the world's most potential consumer of titanium dioxide consumption, China's titanium dioxide industry is in urgent need of further integration, and it needs to produce several world-class titanium dioxide production enterprises to match the development of China's titanium dioxide market in order to compete with international giants.

Business Society titanium dioxide analyst Yang Xun: The domestic titanium dioxide company's production formula are mostly similar, but the local unit operation is different, simply by imitating foreign products, not a fundamental way out. Only by fundamentally studying the reaction mechanism from theory to practice can we make a qualitative leap forward, and we can also innovate products that cannot be compared abroad. Obviously, many foreign companies import domestic titanium dioxide as crude products, and they are not used as final products. After processing, the value of titanium dioxide is greatly increased and then exported to China at a high price. Domestic production enterprises must speed up the establishment and improvement of technological innovation systems for enterprises, continuously strengthen technological development, increase investment in technology development funds, and accelerate the development of technologies and products with independent intellectual property rights.

Chen Hengfu, chairman of Dalian Zhenbang Fluor Coatings Co., Ltd.: If the country can give some support, technological innovation and innovation, then China's titanium dioxide products may completely replace foreign high-end products.

At present, the domestic manufacturing industry lacks high-end manufacturing capabilities, and the cultivation of high-end manufacturing capabilities is the country's strong support. However, it is regrettable that no country can find any specific department to manage this issue. It turned out that we could go to the Ministry of Chemical Industry. After the Ministry of Chemical Industry withdrew, the chemical companies could not find a government department that could seek support. Whether it is the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the Ministry of Science and Technology, all that are in charge are all walks of life in the country, and these departments have not set up a separate chemical division to specialize in chemical industry. At the national level, it is not possible to find a relevant organization that supports the enterprise. Whereas local governments are more pursuing fiscal and taxation growth, they will not be concerned with the significance of technological progress that can bring about a country's industry. As a result, many companies are having more than enough technical innovation. It is suggested that in the future, more efforts and funds should be invested at the national level to support enterprises that carry out technological innovation.


The price hike in the first half of the year stimulated the project. The picture shows the groundbreaking ceremony for the commencement of the construction of a 200,000-ton titanium dioxide technical renovation project with an annual output of 100,000 tons of water-based environmental protection paint project held by Henan Yuli Chemical Co., Ltd. in February this year. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.