Overview of China’s titanium dioxide industry in 2022: rutile titanium dioxide is dominant

I. Development background: Sulfuric acid process is still the main preparation method of titanium dioxide industry
Titanium dioxide  is an important inorganic chemical pigment, the main component is titanium dioxide, according to the production process can be divided into sulfuric acid method and chloride method two process routes. At present, the global mainly to chloride method; However, due to the complex technology of chlorination and the higher material requirement of equipment, sulfuric acid process is the main method in China. According to the data, in 2022, the production of titanium dioxide by the chloride process accounted for 12.87% of the total production, while that by the sulfuric acid process accounted for 87.13% of the total production.
 
However, due to the high energy consumption and pollution of sulphuric acid titanium dioxide, has not met the current trend of the development of circular economy, with the national requirements for energy conservation and emission reduction more and more high, the burden of economic costs of waste treatment is more and more heavy, but also reduce the profit space of enterprises, will promote enterprises to reduce the production of sulphuric acid titanium dioxide, and promote the proportion of chlorination in titanium dioxide production.

II. Development status: rising industry demand, rutile titanium dioxide occupy a dominant position
Because sulfuric acid process is the main production process of titanium dioxide in our country, the demand for the upstream raw material ilmenite will be increasing. The production of titanium dioxide in China has maintained a trend of constant growth during 2018-2022, with the production of titanium dioxide  in 2022 reaching 3.861 million tons, an increase of 1.25% compared with that in 2021. It is expected that the production of titanium dioxide in China will reach 4.196 million tons in 2023. At the same time, its production capacity is also increasing year by year. In 2022, the production capacity of titanium dioxide in China will reach 5 million tons, an increase of 11.2% compared with that in 2021, and it is expected that the production capacity of titanium dioxide in China will reach 5.2 million tons in 2023.

According to the statistics of the Secretariat of Titanium Dioxide Industrial Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance and the Titanium Dioxide Branch Center of the National Chemical Productivity Promotion Center, in 2022, titanium dioxide  related products in China can be divided into rutile type, anatase type, non-pigment grade and other types of products, of which the production of rutile products reached 3.326 million tons, accounting for 86.14% of the total production. An increase of 3.64 percentage points compared with 2021; The output of anatase products was 411,000 tons, accounting for 10.64% of the total output, down 2.36 percentage points compared with 2021; The output of non-pigment grade and other types of products was 124,000 tons, accounting for 3.21 percent, down by 1.29 percentage points compared with 2021. Rutile titanium dioxide accounted for the largest proportion, mainly applicable to a variety of building paint, industrial paint, anticorrosive paint, ink, powder coating and other industries, in 2017 to 2021 its output maintained an upward trend, from 2,292,800 tons in 2017 to 3,326,000 tons in 2021.

Titanium dioxide  is considered to be one of the best white pigments in the world, widely used in coatings, plastics, paper, printing ink, chemical fiber, rubber, cosmetics and other industries. Among them, coating is the main application market of titanium dioxide in our country. According to the data, the proportion of titanium dioxide applied to the paint field in 2021 reached 61%, exceeding 50% of the market. And the real estate industry is the main downstream customers of paint industry, therefore, with the development of real estate industry, the demand for titanium white in our country will also rise, in 2017-2021, the apparent demand for titanium white in our country maintained an increasing trend, in 2022, my titanium white apparent demand reached 2.96 million tons, an increase of 274,000 tons compared with 2021. The apparent demand for titanium dioxide is expected to reach 3.06 million tons in 2023, up 8.02% year on year.

From the price of titanium dioxide, in the first half of 2022, the month-end price of titanium dioxide in our country is basically in a stable stage, with a small fluctuation range, basically maintained between 20000 and 22,000 yuan/ton; However, in the second half of the year, the price of titanium dioxide in China was in a rapid decline, from 20450 yuan per ton in June 2022 to 15933.33 yuan per ton in December 2022, which the cumulative decline of 19.85% from July to September, mainly because of the domestic percentage of market demand continues to be low, manufacturers inventory pressure.
 
By February 2023, the month-end price of titanium dioxide in China has reached 16683.33 yuan/ton, an increase of 750 yuan/ton compared with December 2022. It is expected that in the future, with the improvement of the real estate economy, it is expected to further stimulate the demand for titanium dioxide and drive the price of titanium dioxide.
 
III. Import and export situation: trade surplus gradually expanded, India is the largest export destination of titanium dioxide
From the perspective of import and export, with the increasing demand for titanium dioxide in overseas markets, the export volume of China’s titanium dioxide industry  has maintained a relatively rapid growth in recent years. According to the data of China Customs, in 2021, the export volume of China’s titanium dioxide is 1,311,700 tons and the export amount is $3.639 billion. The export quantity of titanium dioxide in 2022 reached 1.4058 million tons, an increase of 7.17% compared with 2021, and the export amount was 3.834 billion US dollars, an increase of 5.36% compared with 2021. However, the imports of titanium dioxide in 2022 were in a downward trend, with the number of imports being 123,100 tons, down 35.85% compared with 2021, and the amount of imports being $445 million, down 24.58% compared with 2021.

From the perspective of import pattern, the sources of titanium dioxide imports in China mainly include Taiwan of China, Mexico, Australia, the United States, Japan and other places, of which Taiwan of China imported the largest amount, up to 141 million US dollars, accounting for 32%; Mexico followed, with imports of $97 million, accounting for 22%. Shanghai was the province with the largest import demand of titanium dioxide, and its import amount reached 262 million US dollars. Zhejiang province ranked second with $82 million in imports.

From the perspective of export pattern, the top five regions of titanium dioxide export destinations in 2022 are India, Brazil, South Korea, Russian Federation, Vietnam, respectively, with the export amount of 489 million USD, 248 million USD, 203 million USD, 205 million USD, 188 million USD. Meanwhile, Henan Province topped the list with $786 million in exports, followed by Sichuan Province with $701 million and Shandong Province with $592 million.

IV. Development trend: The industry will be prosperous in the future, and the proportion of chlorination process in the market is expected to increase
a.affected by environmental policy, chlorination production process will be vigorously developed by the state at present, sulfuric acid preparation process is the main production mode of titanium dioxide industry,  although the price is lower, but there are certain defects in environmental protection and energy consumption, does not conform to the current trend of social development of circular economy; And through the production of titanium dioxide by chlorination, the degree of environmental damage is lighter, and the product quality is higher. As the state attaches great importance to environmental protection, it will vigorously develop the production process of chlorination. In the “Technology Policy of Pollution Prevention and Control of Titanium Dioxide Industry”, it is mentioned to encourage the process of cleaning titanium dioxide by chlorination and co-production of sulphuric acid, and eliminate the heavy pollution process of traditional sulphuric acid. Under the promotion of the policy, the production process of sulfuric acid process will become more and more difficult, especially the investment in environmental protection facilities will be greatly increased, the cost of enterprises will be under pressure, and the profits of enterprises will be affected. At the same time, the development of the production process of chlorination is conducive to the development of high-quality products, enterprises will continue to strengthen technology research and development, improve the competitiveness of enterprises.

b.The downstream field has a wide coverage range, and the trend of development of industry is good in our country, titanium dioxide production and consumption. At present, titanium dioxide is widely used in coating, plastic, paper making, printing ink, rubber, chemical fiber, ceramics, cosmetics, food, medicine, electronics industry, MEMS and environmental protection industry, and has penetrated into the field of industry. With the continuous development of the downstream field, the demand for titanium dioxide will continue to rise. Among them, the paint industry is the largest downstream customers of titanium dioxide, and the construction industry is the main downstream customers of the paint industry, therefore, the development of the real estate industry has a greater impact on the market demand for titanium dioxide. As the country has introduced a number of policies to facilitate the development of new infrastructure. The new infrastructure is expected to drive the traditional infrastructure industry to usher in a new round of prosperity. As the upstream product of the traditional infrastructure supply chain, driven by the new and old infrastructure, titanium dioxide demand is expected to usher in further growth in the future. Visible, with the continuous development of the downstream field, the demand for titanium dioxide will continue to rise.

（The above article comes from the Internet）