The price increase in the European titanium dioxide market will continue into the first quarter. According to previous calculations, the price per ton of titanium dioxide will increase by 100 euros due to the basic supply restriction.
According to the trading information of coatings and plastic industry, the contract business in the first quarter is expected to have the increase of 100 euros to 130 euros per ton.
At the same time, some buyers admit that there is little room for maneuver in terms of price due to the supply side.
As a result of the fire early this year, supply elasticity was limited and Venator's production in Finland continued to expand, especially for printing inks and other products.
There are also points of view that the current inventory of manufacturers is low.
A buyer from the downstream paint industry said he was discussing the contract details for the year 2018 and said he is facing the problem of a much smaller number of suppliers last year and he also wants to be able to use Asian imports Make up for the lack of supply in Europe.
The major downstream paint and plastics industries are in the off-season in winter, which also led to a decrease in supply last month (November).
However, regardless of the end of the year operating funds considerations, last week (December 11-December 17) pre-orders have increased, the next first quarter will be more solid.
According to some sources, this pre-order may have a chain reaction on the supply side.
Sources also pointed out that, compared with last year, because demand is higher than expected, suppliers will be difficult to raise inventory levels.
The price increase for the first quarter will be between 100 euros and 175 euros per ton, depending on the supplier, grade and whether it is a chloride or sulphate product.
As the rising price of titanium dioxide can not be accepted by the terminal market, titanium dioxide merchants import titanium dioxide from Asia to ease the price rise in the first quarter of next year according to the scale of customers and the ability of downstream prices to accept capacity.
The price of titanium dioxide in Europe in the fourth quarter of this year was 2.74 euros to 2.95 euros per kilogram, up 0.1 kilos per kilogram to 0.15 euros more than the third quarter.
European titanium dioxide rally
Estimated price increases are also sourced from the distributor, with some noting that distributor prices may have risen by 50 euros per tonne in January due to limited supplies.
One dealer suggested that the prices of the first quarter may rise further, though the output of paint in the peak season will not be too obvious in February and March.
In addition to the freely negotiated contractual services, some buyers also mentioned the 2018 model and the possibility of fixed prices in some cases.
However, this has not been confirmed in the sales, and can not represent the overall market trend.