Where has the "Titanium Dioxide" Gone?

Where has the "Titanium Dioxide" Gone?

Preface: With the increase in supply, titanium dioxide manufacturers, distributors, traders, terminals and other enterprises in the market have low or even no inventory. May there be doubts in the minds of most market participants? Where has the titanium dioxide gone? Let's interpret this article together and see if the analysis in the following text is the same as yours?

In terms of price: In the second half of the year, the titanium dioxide market is experiencing a weak downturn. Due to weak terminal demand, the supply and demand of the titanium dioxide market is unbalanced, and market prices have dropped to a low level. Many titanium dioxide manufacturers have reduced production and stopped production, resulting in a decline in market operating rates. As manufacturers consume more inventory and the prices of raw materials such as titanium and sulfuric acid rise, titanium dioxide companies are under greater pressure. On July 25th and August 24th, Longbai Group sent two announcements to raise the price of titanium dioxide, with the first increase ranging from 600 to 800 yuan/ton and the second increase ranging from 700 yuan/ton. Longqi sent an announcement, and the titanium dioxide companies followed suit to announce an increase, ushering in two consecutive rounds of price increases in the market.

The titanium dioxide market has increased the taxed ex-factory price of rutile titanium dioxide to 15100-16500 yuan/ton on June 1st, and the taxed ex-factory price of acute titanium dioxide to 12800-13600 yuan/ton on June 1st, the taxed ex-factory price of rutile titanium dioxide to 16000-16900 yuan/ton on September 15th, with a cumulative increase of 500-1000 yuan/ton. The taxed ex-factory price of anatase titanium dioxide is 14200-14800 yuan/ton, with a cumulative increase of over 1000 yuan/ton, The price increase of anatase titanium dioxide is higher than that of rutile titanium dioxide.

In terms of supply: According to TuDuoduo, China's titanium dioxide production in August 2023 was 356200 tons, a month on month increase of 7.63% and a year-on-year increase of 36.72%; The cumulative production of titanium dioxide from January to August 2023 was 2.6626 million tons, an increase of 1.00% year-on-year. Manufacturers have a large number of orders, and the production of titanium dioxide in the market has increased in August and September.

Overall, with the news of price increases in the market, purchases from distributors, traders, downstream enterprises and other enterprises have gradually increased. Most manufacturers of titanium dioxide have arranged orders until the end of September, while some manufacturers have arranged orders until early October or early October; Although the supply and production have increased and the enterprise has arranged for delivery, the manufacturer's inventory remains low after a month and a half of price increases. As the market gradually completes stocking, some manufacturers will also gradually complete delivery at the end of the month. Based on the above situation, it is estimated that the market demand is around 700000 tons; The titanium dioxide export market is relatively stable, with monthly exports ranging from 120000 to 140000 tons and domestic monthly consumption exceeding 200000 tons.

However, the overall economic pressure in China this year is still significant, and the demand in the terminal market and the operation of enterprise funds are relatively limited. Due to the price increase, terminal manufacturers have a majority of inventory from January to February, while the one month inventory is normal. Excluding rigid need, the overall inventory of manufacturers is still not high, and some agents have a small amount of inventory, but also have situation of no inventory; Now let's review the question at the beginning of the article, where have all the titanium dioxide gone? In fact, based on analysis, the increase in supply is indeed a fact. In the scheduling and delivery of various stages of stocking orders, some of the goods are consumed by terminal demand, while the other part is relatively scattered in various stages, while the manufacturer's inventory remains low; However, according to the completion of market orders and limited terminal consumption, the market inventory may gradually increase in the future.

At present, under the tight supply of manufacturers and high raw material costs, according to market news, Longqi began to close orders on the 15th, and it is expected that the market will announce another rise next week. At that time, the titanium dioxide market will experience "three consecutive rises". However, what will be the situation of this price rise trend? We will talk about that later.