钛白粉中国月报(钛白粉中国月度报告1803)

Although Lomon Billions Group Co., Ltd. (Lomon Billions) maintained previous quotations, other domestic TiO₂ manufacturers successively announced price hikes of USD78.92/t–USD126.28/t (RMB500/t–RMB800/t) in March 2018, including Shandong Jinhai Titanium Resources Technology Co., Ltd., Guangxi Jinmao Titanium Co., Ltd., Panzhihua Taihai Technology Co., Ltd., Panzhihua Tianlun Chemical Co., Ltd., Shanghai Pengbo Titanium Dioxide Co., Ltd. and Qianjiang Fangyuan Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. China’s tax-included quotations for both rutile and anatase TiO₂ slightly increased, reaching USD2,604.50/t–USD2,841.27/t (RMB16,500/t–RMB18,000/t) and USD2,209.87/t–USD2,336.15/t (RMB14,000/t–RMB14,800/t) respectively.

However, this price rise trend scarcely boosted the market as most of TiO₂ manufacturers only received a few orders. This was because:

• resellers had cornered abundant products before the Spring Festival and many end-users, instead purchasing ex-works products, mainly made deals with resellers;
• stringent environmental protection inspections restrained downstream companies’ operating rates, leading to shrinking demand for TiO₂.

According to some industrial insiders, present price gas of TiO₂ of the same level has broadened to USD236.77/t (RMB1,500/t), a reason for slack sales of expensive products. Large-scale producers, such as Lomon Billions, CNNC Huayuan Titanium Dioxide Co., Ltd. (CNNC TD) and GPRO Titanium Industry Co., Ltd., which have maintained stable operating rates and high quotations, become very cautious about price hike. CCM believes that the overall market demand will increase during March and April, when the weather is much warmer, and strongly support domestic TiO₂ prices.

Market dynamics of titanium products in March

Ilmenite

Ilmenite factories in the Panxi Area (Panzhihua and Xichang cities, Sichuan Province) have resumed production in March and their quotations have risen by USD7.89/t–USD15.78/t (RMB50/t–RMB100/t) compared with prices before the Chinese Spring Festival.

Titanium slag

In March, few transactions of high titanium slag were seed in the market and downstream customers strongly beat down prices. Acid dissolved titanium slag prices edged up thanks to sustaining high prices of electrodes and ilmenite. Moreover, electricity prices climbed up during the dry season, further pushing up production costs of domestic acid dissolved titanium slag manufacturers.

Imports and exports

In Jan. 2018, China’s TiO₂ import volume sharply increased owing to joint price hikes of Chemours Company and Tronox Limited published in Nov. 2017. However, the export volume declined because many domestic factories halted production for maintenance and overhaul before the Lunar New Year.

Important market dynamics

On 23 March, 2018, Yibin Tianyuan Group Co., Ltd. announced the building of a 50,000 t/a chloride process TiO₂ project with self-raised funds, expanding its planned chloride process TiO₂ capacity to 100,000 t/a.

On 20 March, 2018, Pangang Group Vanadium & Titanium Resources Co., Ltd. revealed a turnaround from deficit to profit in 2017, as well as an intention to apply for trade resumption in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE).

On 19 March, 2018, Lomon Billions announced that it will acquire a 100% stake in Sichuan Anning Tietai Co., Ltd. and had suspended trading from the SZSE.

In March 2018, CNNC TD reviewed its 2017 business performance, pointing out that the TiO₂ project undertaken by Gansu Dongfang Titanium Dioxide Co., Ltd. was still under construction.

The USD/RMB exchange rate in this newsletter is USD1.00=RMB6.3352 on 1 March, 2018, sourced from the People's Bank of China.

All the prices mentioned in this newsletter will include the VAT, unless otherwise specified.

If you would like to cover any specific topics or investigate any covered subjects in more details, please contact us on +86-20-3761 6606, or econtact@cnchemicals.com. +86-20-37616606；econtact@cnchemicals.com

Correction

We are really sorry for making a mistake in the Titanium Dioxide China Monthly Report 1802:

Panzhihua’s TiO₂ first exported to sudanon Page 11.

Panzhihua Donfang Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. exported 20 tonnes of TiO₂ to Sudan rather than 200,000 tonnes.

We sincerely hope it would not bring you much inconvenience and promise to avoid such mistakes in the future.