Pressure and opportunity coexist when titanium dioxide enters the adjustment period

In recent years, titanium dioxide has become the focus of attention in China's paint market. Whether it is the sharp rise in the period of price rise or the downward trend in the period of downturn, they have all become the "stars" in the paint raw material market. Now the titanium dioxide industry has also reached an important critical period. Enterprises need to make adjustments corresponding to the market in this critical period, regardless of capacity, price and technology.

Nowadays, both the production scale and actual output of titanium dioxide in China are growing rapidly, and China has become one of the most important forces in the world titanium dioxide industry, and this growth momentum will continue. In 2010 and 2011, titanium dioxide plants of all sizes in China were upgrading their scale and expanding their production capacity, hoping to use the power of production capacity to determine the future. We cannot deny that the capacity determines the scale of an enterprise in the market, but blind expansion ignores all potential important factors, such as technology, energy conservation and environmental protection, and product quality.

According to the market report, in the next five years, the new capacity of titanium dioxide in mainland China will be about 2 million tons, including 400000 tons of chlorinated titanium dioxide. The total capacity in 2015 can reach about 4 million tons. At the 2011 National Titanium Dioxide Industry Annual Conference held in November, Xie Xiangyun, the chairman of the Titanium Dioxide Industry Branch of China Paint Industry Association, said that although the output increased significantly, the domestic competitiveness did not improve at the same time. At present, China's titanium dioxide is in a new critical period in many aspects. Although the enterprise's capacity determines its ability to occupy the market, it will be the "highlight" of the industry in the next five years to enhance its international competitiveness through a variety of ways.

As the production technology of titanium dioxide in China has always been dominated by sulfuric acid anatase titanium dioxide, it has gradually changed to rutile titanium dioxide mainly through industrial upgrading in recent years. The production capacity of rutile titanium dioxide has exceeded 70% in the market, and this proportion is still rising. But overall, China's titanium dioxide products are still concentrated in the middle and low grades, and high-end titanium dioxide mainly depends on large imports, Although there are about 60-70 titanium dioxide production enterprises in China, many of them are small-scale sulfuric acid anatase and rutile titanium dioxide. The major enterprises with obvious advantages in product quality are several leading titanium dioxide enterprises. Only three of them have a single plant output of more than 100000 tons, showing a pattern of many, small, miscellaneous and scattered.

Due to the rapid growth of titanium dioxide demand and high profits in China in the past 10 years, many enterprises have rushed in, and the problem of disorderly development is more prominent. In addition, as of October 2011, there is only one titanium dioxide product produced by chlorination in China with a capacity of about 30000 tons, which is insignificant in the total amount of 1.47 million tons. In the next step, four or five enterprises plan to develop the titanium dioxide business by chlorination, with a planned capacity of more than 600000 tons, Therefore, this period is a critical period for changing the product structure, upgrading China's technology level, introducing foreign advanced technology and digesting and undertaking.

As we all know, the disadvantage of the sulfuric acid method is that it pollutes the environment and the quality of titanium dioxide is low. The developed countries in Europe and the United States had already eliminated the sulfuric acid process at the beginning of the century and gradually turned to the chlorination process for production. However, China started late, had a weak foundation, and the relevant stimulus policies were introduced late. The government often turned a blind eye to corporate pollution due to GDP factors. As a result, a large number of "small workshops" rushed into the production of titanium dioxide after seeing the profit of titanium dioxide.

In 2011, with the soaring and falling price of titanium dioxide, as the enterprises realized the production capacity expectation brought by blind expansion, and as the country proposed energy conservation and emission reduction, clean production, environmental protection, and sustainable development, it was a clear task proposed in the national "Twelfth Five Year Plan". The energy conservation, emission reduction and environmental protection of titanium dioxide enterprises have been put on the agenda. Of course, in view of the characteristics of titanium resources in China, the current situation of titanium dioxide industry and the difficulty in developing and introducing titanium dioxide technology by chlorination process, the development of titanium dioxide industry will still focus on sulfuric acid process for a period of time in the future. In terms of how to effectively use the waste and by-products generated by sulfuric acid process and guide and regulate enterprises to follow the path of economic development, the state and industry organizations are making active efforts,

Promote enterprises to take the road of circular economy from policies and regulations. In this process, some enterprises that fail to meet the standards will be eliminated, which will bring more pressure to the survival of enterprises. For those enterprises with a sense of social responsibility, it is a good time to improve the industrial layout and enhance the competitive strength.

China is a developing country, which is still in the period of economic development, with a large population and strong demand. Moreover, the urbanization process is accelerating. Although the development of titanium dioxide has been restrained in the short term, in the long run, the titanium dioxide market still has considerable room for development. According to relevant data, the per capita consumption of titanium dioxide in the United States is 4.1 kg, 3.6 kg in Europe and 1.6 kg in the Asia Pacific region, while China's current consumption is only 1.01 kg, which is still a big gap compared with developed countries. This may be the future development opportunity of titanium dioxide, but the competition in the market will become increasingly fierce.

At present, the low-end sulfuric acid process titanium dioxide in China is heavily repeated, so although the scale has increased, the international competitiveness has not been improved at the same time. China's titanium dioxide industry is a highly competitive industry, with few barriers in mergers and acquisitions, and it is easy to realize market-oriented investment and capital operation. According to foreign development experience, it is a general trend for the titanium dioxide industry to focus on mergers and acquisitions. In the next 5 to 10 years, joint restructuring among titanium dioxide enterprises will be more frequent. Enterprises with technology, resources and markets will come to the fore. There will be 3-5 titanium dioxide enterprises of more than 300000 tons in China. A series of low-cost expansion methods such as mergers and acquisitions, joint restructuring will become the main way. The current period is a good opportunity to implement industrial upgrading, mergers and acquisitions.

The year 2015 is the time for titanium dioxide enterprises to fully adjust. In these years, enterprises will have to consider their own advantages and disadvantages. Although there are great difficulties in upgrading the production line, they need to make great efforts to improve the environmental protection of production methods and the quality of titanium dioxide. During the "Twelfth Five Year Plan" period, the development of titanium dioxide is bound to be extraordinary. Influenced by policies and planning, it will bring both pressure and opportunities.