The export market demand continues to be strong. Titanium dioxide enterprises have raised their quotations one after another.

Since March, the price increase of titanium dioxide has been sent both at home and abroad, and the titanium dioxide industry is attracting a "ferocious" price rise. At present, the mainstream quotation of rutile titanium dioxide by sulfuric acid process is 19000-19800 yuan / ton, that of anatase titanium dioxide is 15500-16000 yuan / ton, and that of chlorination titanium dioxide is 21000-23000 yuan / ton.

Demand in the export market continues to be strong. More than 20 manufacturers have announced a concentrated rise.

For this round of price increases, it is generally believed in the industry that the production capacity of titanium dioxide abroad has decreased in recent years, while the demand is still growing steadily, forcing some foreign downstream enterprises to import titanium dioxide, coupled with the relatively high performance and price of titanium dioxide products, so the export volume of titanium dioxide has increased significantly.

Under the favorable foreign trade export market, more than 20 domestic manufacturers, including CITIC Titanium, Anada and Longpang Bailey, have announced a concentrated rise. The overall price adjustment of titanium dioxide is between 800 and 1500 yuan / ton, and some domestic producers have taken orders to May. The supply side is tight on the spot, and the transaction is discussed one by one.

It is worth noting that in terms of upstream raw materials, the price of titanium concentrate in Panxi region is also in a strong upward state, the supply of titanium ore is tight, and the miners are obviously reluctant to sell, which helps to push up the price of titanium dioxide.

In a survey conducted by an institution, the China Nuclear Titanium dioxide Securities Department said that in the current situation, because supply is tight, small and medium-sized customers basically cannot get the goods, and the company only supplies to large customers with an average monthly purchase of more than 1000 tons.

Huaxi Securities Research News believes that at the present stage, under the positive stimulation of the domestic titanium dioxide market, the price mentality is not reduced, and it is expected that titanium dioxide prices will operate at a high level in the near future. It is suggested that we should pay attention to the market order situation and the start-up trends of relevant leading enterprises.

Industry Matthew effect intensifies

In addition to foreign demand factors, China's capacity upgrading is another major driving factor leading to this round of titanium dioxide price increase cycle so ferocious.

According to the data, China is the country with the largest titanium dioxide production capacity in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2019, China's titanium dioxide production capacity accounted for 45.3% of the world's total production capacity, but in terms of single enterprise capacity, China still has many small enterprises with a production capacity of less than 100000 tons.

According to the statistics of the Titanium dioxide Sub-Center of the National Chemical Productivity Promotion Center, by the end of 2020, there were 42 full-process titanium dioxide production enterprises in China, of which 12 had an output of more than 100000 tons in 2020. There are 30 small enterprises with a production capacity of less than 100000 tons. In 2020, the comprehensive output of titanium dioxide in enterprises with more than 100000 tons is about 2.5722 million tons, accounting for 73.24% of the total output of the country in 2020.

According to people in the industry, China's titanium dioxide enterprises are currently in the stage of capacity expansion and upgrading. At present, the production process of global titanium dioxide products is still dominated by the sulfuric acid process. About 42.5% of the global titanium dioxide production capacity uses the chlorination process, while 84% of China's production capacity uses the highly polluting sulfuric acid process. It is under this background that China's environmental protection policy is becoming stricter, small production capacity is shut down due to substandard environmental protection, the construction speed of production capacity above scale is also limited, and the overall production capacity of titanium dioxide by sulfuric acid process has declined.

In addition, due to the fact that there is almost no new capacity in the global titanium dioxide market from 2021 to 2023, and driven by the reduced supply of capacity upgrading in China, the Matthew effect in China's titanium dioxide market will be intensified.

In terms of listed companies, the output of titanium dioxide in China will reach 4.17 million tons in 2020. In terms of production capacity, the largest market share of China's titanium dioxide industry is Dragon Python. In recent years, with the acquisition of small and medium-sized titanium dioxide enterprises by Dragon Python Bailey, it has a market share of 24.22% in 2020. China Nuclear Titanium dioxide ranks second in market share, with a total production capacity of 340000 tons, accounting for 8.39% of the market share. At present, there are four low-pollution titanium dioxide enterprises in the country, of which Dragon Python has the largest production capacity of 360000 tons.

Citic Construction Investment Analysis believes that under the support of demand, titanium dioxide in 2021 is expected to start a strong upward cycle. In the short and medium term, supply and demand will maintain a tight balance in 2021; in the long run, supported by titanium concentrate, orderly production expansion and increased leader concentration, the price center is expected to be maintained near the historical median and cyclical fluctuations weaken. At the same time, it strongly recommends Python, the global leader with the largest production capacity in Asia, the third in the world and the most complete and lowest cost, as well as nuclear titanium dioxide, the second leader of the domestic titanium dioxide industry, which has grown into the leader of the global titanium industry chain.