Domestic Market

Titanium dioxide market has experienced three stages of ups and downs in the first half of 2019. The prices in June has showed a decline in general compared to that of the beginning of the year. In the end of June, the factory price of Chinese rutile type titanium dioxide with tax is 13,300 to 16,800 Yuan/ton, while the factory price of anatase type titanium dioxide is 11,200 to 12,800 Yuan/ton.

In the first stage (Jan. 2019), many manufacturers have stopped production or entered to maintenance, the titanium dioxide market entered into low season. In the second stage (Feb-Mar. 2019), the market price has risen 500 to 800 Yuan/ton due to the recovered market demand and the rising raw material prices. However, in May and June, the TiO2 market price declined again.

Export & Import

According to China Customs, China has exported a total of 398,098 MT titanium dioxide from January to May,2019, seeing a 2.85% drop from 409,788 MT in the same period of 2018 due to the sluggish demand in the global market.

The top five export market of China’s TiO2 in the first five months of 2019 are India, South Korea, Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia. These countries have large population, and the real estate is in the stage of rapid development, therefore the demand of titanium dioxide also grows rapidly.

(Data Source: China Customs)

In terms of import, China has imported a total of 59,406 MT of titanium dioxide in the first five months of 2019, dropping by 28.58% from 83,183 MT in the same period of last year. The main reason for the import decrease is that China released new production capacity of titanium dioxide by chlorination process and the quality of titanium dioxide has been continuously improved in China, therefore dependency on high-end titanium dioxide from abroad is gradually decreasing.

(Data Source: China Customs)

Taipei China, Australia, Mexico, Germany, and United States are the top five TiO2 suppliers to China in the first five months of 2019.

In general, the import and export of titanium dioxide in China have showed a decline in the first half of 2019. Both the domestic and overseas markets were sluggish, so the overall price of titanium dioxide fell in the first half of 2019.