CNNC Titanium Dioxide: Net Profit Up 34.84% YoY in 2024, Titanium Dioxide Sales Up 33.44% YoY

The 2024 annual report of CNNC Titanium Dioxide shows that the company's operating revenue in 2024 was 6.875 billion yuan, up 38.98% YoY. The company's main revenue sources were titanium dioxide, phosphate ore, yellow phosphorus, and iron phosphate. Among them, the sales volume of titanium dioxide in 2024 was 428,400 mt, up 33.44% YoY, achieving operating revenue of 5.837 billion yuan; the sales volume of phosphate ore was 498,200 mt, of which 258,600 mt were sold externally, achieving operating revenue of 206 million yuan; the sales volume of yellow phosphorus was 19,200 mt, achieving operating revenue of 391 million yuan. In 2024, the company achieved a net profit attributable to the parent company of 565 million yuan, up 34.84% YoY.

CNNC Titanium Dioxide introduced in its 2024 annual report that the company's operating revenue comes from the sales of products such as titanium dioxide, ferrous sulphate, phosphate ore, yellow phosphorus, and iron phosphate, as well as logistics and transportation services, with titanium dioxide product sales being the main source of operating revenue. In 2023, the company acquired phosphate ore mining and processing enterprises and yellow phosphorus producers with reserves of tens of millions of mt, accelerating the construction of green circular economy investment projects, thus forming an industry-leading capacity scale of new energy chemical materials such as titanium dioxide, phosphate ore, yellow phosphorus, and iron phosphate. Among them, the existing capacity of titanium dioxide is nearly 550,000 mt/year, with a planned capacity of 700,000 mt/year; the existing capacity of phosphate ore is 500,000 mt/year; the existing capacity of yellow phosphorus is 120,000 mt/year; the existing capacity of iron phosphate is 100,000 mt/year, with a planned capacity of 500,000 mt/year.

When introducing its core competitiveness, CNNC Titanium Dioxide mentioned the raw material advantages: the main raw materials of the company's main product, rutile titanium dioxide, are titanium concentrate and sulphuric acid, accounting for more than 60% of the production cost. In terms of titanium concentrate, the company relies on its unique production process technology and has established a long-term exclusive supply relationship with titanium concentrate producers in north-west China. During the reporting period, the producer supplied nearly 320,000 mt of titanium concentrate to the company, with a cost advantage of nearly 640 yuan/mt (including tax) compared to externally purchased domestic mainstream titanium concentrate. In terms of sulphuric acid, the main production site of the company, Dongfang Titanium Industry, sources sulphuric acid from the by-products of smelting products of enterprises within the park, realizing the local digestion and conversion of hazardous chemicals in the park while significantly reducing the external purchase cost of sulphuric acid raw materials.

Regarding future business plans, CNNC Titanium Dioxide stated: (1) Optimize the business structure and project implementation pace around the development strategy, maximize the advantages of productive forces, accelerate the completion of technological transformation and capacity release of main products, and promote the dual improvement of production operation efficiency and benefits. (2) Optimize sales strategies to expand the market, strengthen lean management to improve quality and efficiency. (3) Strengthen scientific research capabilities, promote the aggregation of innovation resources, vigorously cultivate innovation entities, and focus on leveraging brand effects. (4) Scientifically standardize the establishment of rules and regulations, establish a standardized management system and working mechanism, optimize internal resource allocation, and strengthen precise assessment and incentives. (5) Strictly adhere to compliance bottom lines, strengthen risk control, ensure safe production, and build a foundation for development. In 2025, based on the annual development goals and resource allocation direction, the actual production and sales situation in 2024, and under the premise of no major changes in the external operating environment, the company comprehensively analyzed its operating situation and, based on the principles of rationality and feasibility, formulated the company's 2025 business plan. The company has set production and sales targets for its main products, titanium dioxide, phosphate ore, yellow phosphorus, and iron phosphate. While doing a good job in the production and operation of existing businesses, the company will continue to promote project investment and construction, and complete the green transformation of high-quality sustainable development through the implementation of resource strategy, talent strategy, brand strategy, and empowerment strategy.

When asked about the main reasons for the company's performance growth in 2024, CNNC Titanium Dioxide responded at the performance briefing on March 21: In 2024, the company focused on the goal of "improving quality and efficiency, increasing volume and speed", optimized the production process through research and production linkage to achieve efficient operation of existing capacity, quickly improved the industry chain through resource integration to supplement the core elements of the circular economy, and accelerated the integration of technical teams through talent introduction to ensure the operational efficiency of projects under construction. (1) Existing main business (rutile titanium dioxide): The company's production units and functional departments efficiently coordinated to ensure the balance of production and sales of main products, optimized sales strategies, and successfully expanded customer resources at home and abroad. Under the background of the new capacity of titanium dioxide in subsidiaries being put into production, the company maintained the stable operation of its existing main business. (2) New business (phosphorization): In 2023, the company completed the integration and acquisition of high-quality assets, achieving a breakthrough from zero to one in the resource business sector at the consolidated statement level, and added production and sales businesses of main products such as phosphate ore and yellow phosphorus, creating a second growth curve for the company's operating performance. 2024 was the first full year of the company's operation of the aforementioned businesses, with the phosphate ore business successfully completing the production plan and the yellow phosphorus business completing the 90,000 mt/year technological transformation plan. (3) Other businesses (new energy materials, logistics, and other products): In 2024, the company's iron phosphate and other products, as well as logistics business, increased in an orderly manner. The efficient implementation of the company's development strategy promoted the growth of the company's revenue scale and achieved good operating results.

In addition, when asked about the impact of titanium dioxide price fluctuations on the company's profitability and whether the company has strategies to cope with price fluctuations, CNNC Titanium Dioxide stated at the performance briefing on March 21: In 2024, the sales amount of titanium dioxide products accounted for more than 84% of the company's main business revenue, and its selling price is one of the important factors affecting the company's profit level. With the advantages of stable supply and product quality, the company has formed long-term and stable cooperative relationships with many large downstream customers. At the same time, the company vigorously developed overseas market sales business. In 2024, the company's foreign sales amounted to 2.652 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 40% of the company's operating revenue, further ensuring the selling price of the company's titanium dioxide products. In the future, the company will rely on its brand and market position to continuously develop customer resources and ensure the stable operation of the titanium dioxide business.

Reviewing the historical price trend of SMM rutile titanium dioxide, it can be seen that:

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In 2024, with the successive commissioning of new capacities in the titanium dioxide industry, although the downstream demand for titanium dioxide has been relatively robust, the increase in new capacity was greater than the increase in demand, resulting in an overall oversupply in the titanium dioxide market, and the price center of titanium dioxide also shifted downward. Reviewing the historical prices of rutile titanium dioxide, it can be seen that the average price of rutile titanium dioxide on December 29, 2023 was 15,850 yuan/mt, and its average price on December 31, 2024 was 14,500 yuan/mt, with an average price drop of 8.52% in 2024.

According to the latest SMM quotation, on March 31, the SMM rutile titanium dioxide quotation was 14,200 yuan/mt-15,000 yuan/mt, with an average price of 14,600 yuan/mt, which has been flat since February 17. This average price increased by 100 yuan/mt compared to the average price of 14,500 yuan/mt on December 31, 2024.

Since entering 2025, after experiencing maintenance and control of production and pre-holiday stockpiling, the titanium dioxide market has been affected by tight spot market supply, and the supply-demand relationship of titanium dioxide has changed. Previously, many titanium dioxide companies successively issued two waves of price adjustment letters in late January and late February. Currently, the price of titanium concentrate is high, and the price of sulphuric acid continues to rise, leading to a continuous increase in the raw material cost of titanium dioxide. Coupled with the fact that some titanium dioxide companies have low inventory and tight spot supply, and export demand has been relatively considerable, titanium dioxide producers are quite confident in the third round of price increases within the year. However, downstream market demand in Q1 fell short of expectations, and the export market was affected by anti-dumping, increasing the pressure on foreign trade orders for titanium dioxide companies in April, and the market inventory of titanium dioxide is at a high level, making it difficult to implement the price of new orders for titanium dioxide. SMM will continue to track the changes in the titanium dioxide market transactions.