Titanium dioxide prices have soared since the beginning of this year. The reporter learned from the industry that the current domestic titanium dioxide production capacity is facing a serious surplus, coupled with the market downturn, the price has almost dropped to the low of the beginning of the year.

According to data provided by the Commodity Information Business Group, this year, domestic and foreign titanium dioxide companies have raised prices several times. Rutile titanium dioxide prices from the beginning of the year's 16500 yuan / ton, all the way soared to the end of July to 22500 yuan / ton, just over half a year's time increase of 36.4%, becoming one of the hottest varieties of inorganic chemicals.

However, starting from August, the price of titanium dioxide “high-stage diving”, the first-line factory rutile ex-factory price has dropped below 20,000, 19,000 yuan, has dropped to 18,000 yuan -18,500 yuan / ton, anatase-type ex-factory prices fell To 15,000 yuan -15500 yuan / ton, almost back to the beginning of the year.

“Now the demand for titanium dioxide is indeed very light, and demand is the driving force of the market, without the support of the buyer's market, coupled with the reduction in the cost of raw materials, resulting in a straight decline in the price of titanium dioxide at this stage.” Business Society titanium dioxide analyst Yang Xun Tell this reporter that 60% of the demand for titanium dioxide comes from paint, which is closely related to the real estate industry.

In the event of weaker demand, the production capacity of titanium dioxide has gradually become oversupply, which is another important reason for the decrease in the price of titanium dioxide. Yang Xun said that according to his statistics, there are currently about 90 large, medium, and small-sized manufacturers in China.

It is understood that titanium dioxide production process ** method and chlorination two. Chlorination is the mainstream process in developed countries. As of the end of the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, China is already the world’s largest producer and consumer of titanium dioxide, with a production capacity of 2.3 million tons, but the chlorination capacity is only 30,000 tons, accounting for 1.5% of domestic production. Last year, the domestic apparent consumption of titanium dioxide 1.477 million tons, nearly 40% overcapacity.

Not only that, due to the higher overall profitability of the titanium dioxide industry in the first half of the year, domestic companies have over-invested titanium dioxide projects, resulting in a rapid increase in the production of titanium dioxide. According to statistics, at present, the production capacity of titanium dioxide to be built and under construction in China is more than 1.5 million tons, and the titanium dioxide production capacity of the chlorination process has also reached 670,000 tons. By 2015, after the completion of all new construction projects, production capacity will reach 4.38 million tons.

“According to the development speed of several major downstream industries of titanium dioxide, with an annual increase of 15% in the demand for titanium dioxide, it is optimistic to estimate that the demand for titanium dioxide will be only 3.017 million tons by 2015. This means “twelve five”. The problem of overcapacity in the titanium dioxide industry in the end will not only not be reversed, but will be even worse, resulting in excessive consumption of resources and intensified market competition, said Liu Changhe, head of the expert group of the China Titanium Dioxide Industry Branch of the China Coating Industry Association.

Yang Xun also pointed out that some domestic large-scale titanium dioxide manufacturers such as Sichuan Long Yao have taken the lead in repeatedly cutting prices, which has stimulated many peer manufacturers, and it evolved into a price war. For the afternoon market, Yang Xun said, "I don't like the titanium dioxide market in September and October, and it is still bearish in the short-term."