Recently, major producers such as Australia, Canada and South Africa have experienced declines in production in areas with high grades of rutile and titanium slag, and European pigment manufacturers are also facing shortages of titanium raw materials.
Among them, ILUKA's closure of Murray Basin has led to a reduction of 20,000 tons of rutile and whitstone supply this year, which is reflected in the results announced by titanium dioxide producer Tronox. And Sibelco's Stradbroke Island project is about to close. As a result, by the year 2020, the market will reduce the supply of 35,000 tons of rutile.
Supply shortages triggered a rise in rutile prices in the third quarter of this year. According to data released by Industrial Minerals, from July 5 to mid-July, bulk titanium dioxide CIF (to Hong Kong) with a minimum of 95% from China's exports. Prices have risen from $850-950 per ton to $950-1100; and FOB from Australia has risen from $800-900 per ton to $930-1020.
The supply of high-end raw materials such as rutile is tight and pushes up the premium of titanium dioxide. After all, only a few companies have the technical strength to adopt or switch other materials. For example, Kronos, the world's second largest titanium dioxide producer, bought the world last year. 38% of rutile, affected by the current shortage of raw materials, its titanium dioxide delivery period is postponed, even reaching 8 weeks.