The scientific name of Titanium Dioxide is titanium dioxide. Its molecular formula is TiO2 with a relative molecular weight of 79.90, also known as titanium dioxide. As an inert pigment, it is considered to be the best white pigment in the world.
1、 Titanium dioxide industry chain
The main manufacturing methods of titanium dioxide are sulfuric ACID method and chlorination method. Among them, about 56% of titanium dioxide is chlorination product, and more than 70% of this product is produced by major titanium dioxide factories such as DuPont in the United States. Titanium dioxide factories in other countries, including China, are still dominated by sulfuric acid method.
Raw materials for manufacturing titanium dioxide mainly include titanium concentrate, rutile, chlorine, petroleum coke, and sulfuric acid; Titanium dioxide was obtained by chlorination and sulfuric acid; The downstream applications of titanium dioxide include coatings, plastics, papermaking, rubber, cosmetics, textiles and chemical fibers.
2、 Titanium dioxide upstream
Raw materials for manufacturing titanium dioxide mainly include titanium concentrate, rutile, chlorine, petroleum coke and sulfuric acid.
1. titanium concentrate
Titanium concentrate is extracted from ilmenite or titanomagnetite. It is the raw material for the production of titanium dioxide which is widely used. According to statistics, the global titanium ore (ilmenite and rutile) reserves are about 830 million tons, of which ilmenite accounts for 89%. China's titanium reserves are about 220 million tons, accounting for 26.38% of the world's total reserves, ranking first in the world. Australia's titanium reserves account for 21.22% of the world's reserves, ranking second in the world. However, the purity of titanium resources in China is low, and it is highly dependent on imports.
2. rutile
Rutile is an important mineral raw material for the extraction of titanium, and it is also the best raw material for the production of rutile titanium dioxide. There are tens of millions of tons of rutile in China, and the titanium content of rutile resources accounts for 2.01% of the total titanium resources. Therefore, domestic natural rutile resources are very valuable.
According to the mineral product outline of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the global rutile reserves are 62 million tons (calculated by titanium dioxide). The global rutile resources are mainly distributed in Australia, Kenya, South Africa and India. The rutile reserves of the above four countries account for 93.06% of the global reserves.
There are 41 rutile resource producing areas in China, mainly distributed in Henan, Hubei and Shanxi. Most of rutile titanium resources are low-grade primary ores, accounting for 86% of China's rutile resources and 14% of placers.
3. chlorine
Chlorine is one of the important raw materials for the production of titanium dioxide by chlorination. Titanium dioxide can be obtained by reacting titanium containing raw materials with chlorine to produce titanium tetrachloride, and then through gas-phase oxidation, rapid cooling, gas-solid separation and other steps.
Liquid chlorine is generally used after gasification. In recent years, China's liquid chlorine production has increased year by year. According to statistics, by 2020, China's liquid chlorine production was 31.516 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%. It is estimated that China's liquid chlorine production will reach 32.283 million tons in 2021, an increase of 2.4%
4. petroleum coke
Petroleum coke is a product of crude oil separated from light and heavy oil by distillation and then transformed into heavy oil by thermal cracking. The main element composition is carbon, accounting for more than 80%, containing 1.5%-8% hydrogen, and the rest are oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and metal elements. Data show that China's petroleum coke output will reach 29.202 million tons in 2020; From January to June 2021, China's petroleum coke output reached 14.842 million tons.
Regional distribution of petroleum coke industry
In terms of regional proportion, in 2020, the output of petroleum coke in East China will account for 56.4%, the output of petroleum coke in Northeast China will account for 13.0%, and the output of South China, Northwest China, North China, central China and southwest China will account for 9.7%, 8.8%, 6.9%, 4.5% and 0.8% respectively.
5. sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid is one of the important raw materials for the production of titanium dioxide by sulfuric acid method. Titanium oxide sulfate is produced by acidolysis reaction between titanium iron powder and concentrated sulfuric acid. After hydrolysis, metatitanic acid is generated, and then the titanium dioxide product is obtained by calcination and crushing. From 2016 to 2020, China's sulfuric acid output has been stable at about 91-92.5 million tons. According to statistics, in the first half of 2021, China's sulfuric acid output was 45.988 million tons.
3、 Titanium dioxide midstream
1. titanium tetrachloride
Titanium tetrachloride is the main raw material for producing sponge titanium and titanium dioxide by chlorination. About 90% of titanium tetrachloride is used to produce titanium dioxide, followed by titanium metal and powder. In addition to the two major applications, the applications in other fields are also expanding.
2. titanium dioxide
In recent years, the output of titanium dioxide in China has maintained a sustained growth. According to statistics, the output of titanium dioxide in 2016 was 2.6 million tons. In 2020, the annual production capacity of all 40 full process titanium dioxide production enterprises in China reached 4.17 million tons. The comprehensive output of various titanium dioxide and related products was 3.512 million tons, an increase of 330000 tons or 10.39% over the previous year.
Consumption growth
China is not only a big country in titanium dioxide production, but also a big country in titanium dioxide consumption. In 2019, the apparent demand for titanium dioxide in China is about 2345700 tons, about 1.68kg per capita, equivalent to twice the global per capita level of 0.8kg.
From 2016 to 2020, the apparent consumption of China's titanium dioxide market showed a steady upward trend. In 2020, the apparent consumption of titanium dioxide was 2.468 million tons, an increase of 5.32% over the previous period.
Expansion of export scale
In 2016, the export volume of titanium dioxide was about 720500 tons and the import volume was 189200 tons. In 2020, the export volume of titanium dioxide was about 1214000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 23.49%; In 2020, the import volume of titanium dioxide was about 168300 tons, with a year-on-year increase of 4.79%.
Major manufacturers
In 2020, there will be 40 full process manufacturers with normal production conditions and above the scale in China's titanium dioxide industry, with a comprehensive effective capacity of 3.845 million tons / year. In 2020, among the 40 full process titanium dioxide manufacturers, there will be one super large enterprise with an effective capacity of more than 900000 tons / year; 11 large enterprises with a production capacity of 100000 tons / year or above; 10 medium-sized enterprises with a capacity of 50000-80000 T / A; The remaining 18 manufacturers are small and micro enterprises. Since 2019, the overall scale of titanium dioxide in China has ranked first in the world.
4、 Titanium dioxide downstream
The main application fields of titanium dioxide: coatings, plastics, printing ink and papermaking, of which coatings account for 60%, plastics for 20%, papermaking for 14%, and others (including cosmetics, chemical fiber, electronics, ceramics, enamel, welding rod, alloy, glass and other fields) account for 6%.
1. coating
The coating industry is the largest user of titanium dioxide, especially rutile titanium dioxide, which is mostly consumed by the coating industry. The paint made of titanium dioxide has bright colors, high hiding power, strong coloring power, low dosage and many varieties, which can protect the stability of the medium, enhance the mechanical strength and adhesion of the paint film, prevent cracks, prevent the penetration of ultraviolet and moisture, and prolong the service life of the paint film.
According to statistics, in 2016, China's paint output reached 19.008 million tons, an increase of 7.2%. In 2020, China's paint output reached 24.581 million tons, an increase of 0.9%. It is estimated that China's paint production will reach 25.753 million tons in 2021, an increase of 4.8%.
2. plastic
The plastics industry is the second largest user of titanium dioxide. Adding titanium dioxide to plastics can improve the heat resistance, light resistance and weather resistance of plastic products, improve the physical and chemical properties of plastic products, enhance the mechanical strength of products and prolong the service life.
In recent years, the output of plastic products in China has fluctuated slightly. Limited by the impact of the plastic order, in 2020, China's plastic products industry completed an output of 76.032 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 6.5%. In the first half of 2021, China's output of plastic products reached 38.835 million tons.
3. papermaking
The paper industry is the third largest user of titanium dioxide. As a paper raw material, it is mainly used in high-grade paper and thin paper. Adding titanium dioxide to the paper can make the paper have good whiteness, good gloss, high strength, thin and smooth, non penetrating during printing, and light weight.
According to the data, the operating revenue of China's paper industry increased from 1541.31 billion yuan in 2017 to 1301.27 billion yuan in 2020. In the first half of 2021, the operating revenue of China's paper industry reached 714.2 billion yuan. The concentration of China's paper-making enterprises has increased. It is expected that the business revenue of large paper-making enterprises will increase in the future, which will drive the main business revenue of the whole industry to rise. The total profit of China's paper industry increased from 102.86 billion yuan in 2017 to 82.67 billion yuan in 2020 and 48.43 billion yuan in the first half of 2021.
4. rubber
Titanium dioxide is not only used as a colorant in the rubber industry, but also has the functions of reinforcement, anti-aging and filling. Titanium dioxide is added to white and color rubber products. Under sunlight, it is resistant to sunlight, no cracking, no discoloration, and the elongation is greater than that of acid-base resistance.
According to statistics, China's synthetic rubber output rose from 5.458 million tons to 7.398 million tons in 2016-2020. By the first half of 2021, China's output of synthetic rubber had reached 3.917 million tons, a cumulative increase of 10.8%.
5. ink
The ink containing titanium dioxide is durable and does not change color, with good surface wettability and easy dispersion. The annual output of Chinese ink has grown from 697000 tons in 2015 to 791000 tons in 2019, with an average annual growth rate of about 3.2%. It is expected that the output will reach 839000 tons in 2021.
6. cosmetics
Because titanium dioxide is nontoxic and far superior to lead white, almost all kinds of perfume powders use titanium dioxide to replace lead white and zinc white. Only 5%-8% titanium dioxide can be added to the flavor powder to get permanent white, making the flavor more greasy, with adhesion, absorption and covering power. Titanium dioxide can reduce the feeling of greasiness and transparency in gouache and cold cream. Titanium dioxide can also be used in other spices, sunscreen, soap flakes, white soap and toothpaste.
In recent years, with the rapid growth of China's economy, China's cosmetics consumption has risen rapidly. Data show that the retail sales of cosmetics in China from January to December 2020 was 340billion yuan, an increase of 9.5% compared with the same period last year. China business industry predicts that the retail sales of cosmetics in China will reach 359.98 billion yuan in 2021.
