Chemours’ Altamira TiO2 plant has always been known for its high efficiency and low production costs. Early in Nov. 2014, DuPont decided to expand the TiO2 production capacity (200,000 t/a) of its Altamira plant, after which the plant was expected to reach full capacity in 2016. In Dec. 2015, construction of the project was finished.

After the new 200,000 t/a project was put into production, the total TiO2 production capacity of Chemours hit 1.17 million t/a (150,000 t/a TiO2 production facilities were shut down in Sept. 2015), further consolidating the company’s leading position in the industry.

Other than increasing capacity for the company, the new project will meet client demand for high-quality TiO2 and the low-cost advantage of the Altamira plant will improve Chemours’ overall TiO2 production efficiency. “This adjustment to industrial structure is expected to save Chemours about USD20 million annually.” one trade source commented.

Since 2013, when the global TiO2 market began to slide as a whole, Chemours, as a leading enterprise in the industry, has not been performing well. According to its 2015 financial report, Chemours’ sales from Chemours Titanium Technologies fell by 19% YoY to USD2.39 billion and their adjusted EBITDA plummeted by 121.70% YoY to USD326 million.

Notably, facing a slide in performance, Chemours has remained resolute and has been vigorously reducing production costs by adjusting its industrial structure and streamlining their workforce. Judging from global TiO2 market dynamics, the adjustments made by Chemours to its industrial structure have been very precise.

For example, when the TiO2 price dropped significantly in the second half of 2015, Chemours reduced its output to control market supply, stabilizing its product price; since Jan. 2016, the global market price of TiO2 has been recovering relatively quickly, so Chemours has put a new production line into production to meet increasing market demand.

In further detail, in Sept. 2015, Chemours closed its Edge Moor manufacturing site, a TiO2 production base, located outside Wilmington, Delaware, and shut down a TiO2 production line (line 3, which utilized outdated production equipment) at its Johnsonville plant in New Johnsonville, Tennessee.

Together, these actions eliminated roughly 150,000 t/a of TiO2 production capacity while refocusing TiO2 production at four manufacturing sites that employ the full range of Chemours TiO2 technological strengths. And in Dec. 2015, Chemours announced that it was to lay off about 400 employees in 2016, saving costs of about USD50 million for the company annually.

 
According to data from the General Administration of Customs of the P.R.C., Chemours exported a total of 119,259 tonnes of TiO2 to China, essentially unchanged from that in 2014.

                                                           Chemours Titanium Technologies 2015 sales

                                                           Source: The Chemours Company & CCM

                                            Chemours Titanium Technologies 2015 sales by region

                                                         Source: The Chemours Company & CCM

                                       Chemours Titanium Technologies 2015 sales by end-market

                                                        Source: The Chemours Company & CCM

This article comes from Titanium Dioxide China Monthly Report 1605, CCM

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