Titanium Dioxide industry is the third largest inorganic chemical product after synthetic ammonia and phosphorus chemical industry. It is widely used in coatings, plastics, papermaking, ink and other fields. It is a barometer of national economic development. Coatings is the most important downstream industry, accounting for more than 50% of titanium dioxide application.
In 2020, titanium dioxide industry has experienced a severe test. Since the beginning of the year, due to the outbreak of the epidemic at home and abroad, the demand at home and abroad has decreased, and the titanium dioxide industry has been cold for a short time. However, since the second half of the year, the domestic market demand has warmed up, and the spot price of titanium dioxide has been rising for many times.
In the first half of the year, the price of titanium dioxide dropped rapidly
In 2019, the total capacity of titanium dioxide in the world is about 8.685 million tons / year, with a year-on-year growth of 3.2%. In 2019, the main growth of titanium dioxide production capacity is in China, which accounts for 81% of the global total capacity increment. With the further expansion of production capacity, the overall price of titanium dioxide will remain weak in 2019.
In the first half of 2020, the price of titanium dioxide products continued the downward trend since the end of last year, and the market also entered the cold winter. From the beginning of the year, product prices continued to decline.
From the end of March to the end of June, titanium dioxide entered a weak period of price reduction. The vertical drop rates of rutile and anatase were 3000 yuan / ton and 2000 yuan / ton, with the ranges of 19.87% and 17.39%. Taking rutile titanium dioxide produced by sulfuric ACID process as an example, the price of rutile titanium dioxide was reduced by 3000 yuan / ton in just three months, which fell to the lowest level in the past two years. The reduction rate and rate are rare over the years.
In June, the overall price of titanium dioxide in the national market fell, and the price change showed a trend of falling first and then stabilizing. The market price adjustment at the beginning of the month continued to the middle of June, and the market price continued to stabilize at the end of the quarter. By the end of June, the average price of rutile titanium dioxide in the national market was 12600 yuan / ton, a decrease of about 6.02%. The price range of mainstream market negotiation was 12000-13000 yuan / ton, and the quotation of many small enterprises was as low as 12000 yuan / ton, which was lower than the break even line. In June, the average negotiation price of anatase titanium dioxide in the national market fell as a whole, and the price change showed a trend of falling first and then stabilizing. The average closing price at the end of the month was 10558.33 yuan / ton, down 7.80%; the mainstream negotiation range of the national market was 10000-10800 yuan / ton.
Titanium dioxide price rises in the second half of the year
Since June 28, the price of titanium dioxide industry has been raised for many times, and many enterprises have followed suit and responded, realizing the rare concerted action of the whole industry. At the same time, with the positive changes in the economic situation, the downstream market has greatly improved, and the industry is showing the most prosperous market since this year. All enterprises are prosperous in production and marketing, and the profit level has increased.
In December, due to the surge of upstream raw materials and overseas demand, the price rise of titanium dioxide has not stopped. On December 9, a number of domestic titanium dioxide enterprises announced a price increase of 700 yuan / ton. As of December 16, the transaction price of rutile titanium dioxide in China was about 16600 yuan / ton, up 5000 yuan / ton from the lowest price in the year.
A large part of the reason for the continuous increase of titanium dioxide comes from the cost side, such as the support of the price of titanium concentrate, and the further increase of titanium dioxide may stimulate the price rise of upstream titanium concentrate in pursuit of downstream profits. As the upstream and downstream, the value transmission of titanium concentrate and titanium dioxide is bidirectional, and the characteristics of the domestic market determine that the pricing discourse power of titanium concentrate is stronger. According to industry analysis, the industry is still optimistic in 2021, and the price will remain firm at least in the first half of the year.
