Since the second half of 2009, the global economic environment has gradually come out of the trough during the financial crisis, and market demand has improved significantly, which has driven the titanium dioxide market to rise. Continuous and phased price increases have pushed the price of titanium dioxide products in the international market to the peak of recent years. In this context, my country's titanium dioxide export volume has continued to rise sharply, coupled with the strong domestic market, so that the long-awaited prosperity of the titanium dioxide industry has appeared.

The market situation is getting better all the way

The titanium dioxide market is generally positive this year. Under the influence of various favorable factors, the market demand has been improving since the beginning of the year, and the operating rate of enterprises has remained high. Due to the completion and commissioning of some expansion projects or projects, the total annual production is expected to reach 1.2 million to 1.4 million tons. Since entering the second half of the year, the market for titanium dioxide has been on the rise. Various manufacturers across the country have continuously increased the price of titanium dioxide, and the price has risen by a large margin. In September and October, there was a situation of no goods at all. The price of anatase rose from 10,000 yuan (ton price, the same below) to 12,500 yuan, and the price of rutile rose from 12,000 yuan to 14,500 yuan, an increase of more than 20%, which greatly promoted the prosperity of today's titanium dioxide market.

According to the monitoring of the Titanium Dioxide Sub-center of the National Chemical Industry Productivity Promotion Center, as of late November, the price of anatase has risen to 13,000 yuan, and the price of rutile has reached 15,000 to 16,000 yuan. Regardless of whether it is anatase or rutile products, they have basically maintained a strong momentum this year, and it is expected that this will be the case at the end of this year and early next year.　　 The product structure is significantly optimized

Among the national titanium dioxide output in 2009, rutile type was 555,000 tons, accounting for 51.7% of total titanium dioxide output; anatase type was 485,000 tons, accounting for 45.1%; non-pigment-grade products including enamel, welding rod, and electronic grade The ratio drops to 3.2%, which actually only serves as an embellishment. my country's titanium dioxide industry has grown from non-pigment grade products in the 1950s to 1990s to an absolute share of pigment grade products including anatase and rutile products. In 2009, higher-grade rutile products It surpassed anatase products for the first time. Moreover, the performance of various products is constantly improving, and some products can be used in high-end fields with imported advanced products.

In an interview with reporters, Bi Sheng, the leader of the national titanium dioxide industry expert group and director of the titanium dioxide branch of the National Chemical Industry Productivity Promotion Center, said that more than half of the rutile products are the direct result of product upgrades and productivity levels in the titanium dioxide industry over the years. In recent years, the titanium dioxide industry, especially the backbone enterprises, has strengthened the development of new products according to market demand, and a variety of products adapted to different fields have gradually emerged, and the phenomenon of relying on a single brand of product to dominate the world has gradually disappeared.

Industry restructuring is accelerating

In recent years, a trend in the world's titanium dioxide industry is that there are fewer and fewer manufacturers, and the scale of a single manufacturer is getting bigger and bigger. In 2009, apart from China, there were only 17-18 global titanium dioxide producers, 50 production plants, and a total production capacity of 4.5 million tons. Compared with China, there are 62 normal titanium dioxide enterprises, belonging to nearly 50 manufacturers, with a total production capacity of only 1.5 million tons.

The industry believes that increasing industrial concentration is the only way for the healthy development of China's titanium dioxide industry. For more than a year, Pansteel, following the wholly-owned acquisition of Chongqing Titanium Dioxide, its equity participation in Jinzhou Titanium Industry, and Panzhihua Oriental Titanium Industry, will also control Jiangsu Zhen Titanium; Jiangsu Jinpu will also control China Nuclear Huayuan Titanium Dioxide in addition to Nanjing Titanium Dioxide. 404 Titanium Dioxide); Hunan Yongli Holdings Hengyang Tianyou Chemical Industry and so on, indicating that the restructuring of the titanium dioxide industry has begun to make substantial progress.

Market risks cannot be ignored

Although China has made a series of progress in improving the technical content of the titanium dioxide industry in the past five years, objectively speaking, that is only relative to the past. So far, the so-called expansion or new products launched by various companies, whether they are anatase or rutile, are basically of the same grade and performance quality. So far, the industry has not produced a product that can fully compete with the international upper-level products (such as Japan R-930). If calculated on the basis of the industry's average operating rate of 70% in 2009, the national titanium dioxide output in 2010 may reach 1.2 million to 1.4 million tons.

In recent years, titanium dioxide expansion projects have blossomed everywhere. According to statistics, 14 expansion projects are planned to be completed in 2010, with an additional capacity of 795,000 tons/year. There are 11 announced expansion projects in the next 5 years, involving a production capacity of 1.1 million tons per year. If its expansion plan can be realized by 2015, the total annual domestic production of titanium dioxide may reach 2.3 million tons, 2.1 times the record level in 2009. Since most of the new products are similar to existing products, so many products of the same grade and type are flooding the market, and the intensity of competition can be imagined.

The relevant experts of the Titanium Dioxide Sub-center of the National Chemical Industry Productivity Promotion Center believe that at present, both large and small enterprises in the national titanium dioxide industry are showing a boom in production and sales, but the future is still not optimistic, and there are many uncertain factors; one is the market brought about by expansion. The pressure is obvious; the second is that the "Evaluation Standards for Cleaner Production Level in the Titanium Dioxide Industry" will be promulgated and implemented, which will increase the pressure on the discharge and treatment of pollutants in the industry; third, the relevant national industrial policies may change, and the impact of the policy on the titanium dioxide industry, is crucial.