Titanium dioxide price increase Long Yuli layout upstream raw materials
March 30, 2021
Since the beginning of the year, the titanium dioxide market has changed its volatility last year, showing a wave of rising prices. In this context, the titanium dioxide market leader continues to extend the industry chain and improve the ability to control the upstream raw materials market. This has become another new trend in the titanium dioxide industry following horizontal integration.
According to the statistics of business organizations, since 2019, the reference price of titanium dioxide market has risen from 15,950 yuan per ton at the beginning of the year, and has now risen to 16,500 yuan per ton. Long Yuli (13.950, 0.00, 0.00%) announced on February 13 that the sales price of various types of sulfuric acid titanium dioxide in the company was raised by RMB 500/ton for various domestic customers on the basis of the original price, and raised by USD 100 for various international customers. /Ton. Since then, China National Nuclear Titanium (4.090, -0.08, -1.92%) and Gimpo Titanium (3.720, 0.04, 1.09%) also issued price increases on the 14th and 16th, respectively, the price adjustment is consistent with Long Yuli.
Under such market conditions, domestic titanium dioxide faucets have exerted their strength in the control of raw materials. On February 26, Long Yuli issued a notice saying that it plans to invest 2 billion yuan in the Panxi area to make full use of local titanium concentrate resources to break the unfavorable situation of high-quality titanium chloride slag in China.
According to the announcement, on February 26, Longli and the Yanbian County People's Government signed the “Investment Agreement for the Innovation Project of 500,000 Tons of Titanium Concentrate Upgrade and Conversion of Titanium Chloride Slag”, which will invest 2 billion yuan to build 500,000 tons of titanium. The concentrate will be upgraded and transformed into a titanium chloride slag production line and supporting facilities. The production capacity will reach an annual output of 300,000 tons of titanium chloride slag for the production of chlorinated titanium dioxide and titanium sponge.
Long Yuli said that the project will help to further integrate the industrial chain, achieve the company's development strategy and improve the company's core competitiveness. It is reported that the project will greatly enhance the utilization value of titanium concentrate in Panxi area, obtain high-quality titanium chloride slag products that meet the production of titanium dioxide in chlorination method, and change the unfavorable situation of China's long-term high-quality titanium chloride slag dependence on imports. Titanium industry's international competitiveness; after the project is completed, it will promote the scientific and technological progress of China's titanium industry, improve the quality of titanium dioxide products and upgrade the titanium dioxide products, and change the industrial pattern of titanium dioxide industry based on sulfuric acid method. The optimization and upgrading of the titanium industry structure, the sustained and healthy development of the industrial economy in Yanbian County and the development of the Panxi* strategic resource innovation development pilot zone are of great significance.
The move by Long Yuli to the upstream does not stop there. According to the investigation, Longli has now reached an annual production capacity of 800,000 tons in the upstream titanium mine, which can meet the supply of more than 70% of the production raw materials, and greatly solve the problem of raw materials "card neck". Benefiting from this, Long Yuli achieved a net profit of 1.97 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2018, a year-on-year increase of 2.59%. The company expects to achieve a net profit of 2.252 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan in 2018, an increase of 10% to 20%.
It is worth noting that not only the vertical extension, but also the horizontal merger has become an important trend in the titanium dioxide industry. Previously, the Shanghai Securities News reported that the number of domestic titanium dioxide enterprises in 2017 was 41, and it was reduced to 39 in 2018. As far as 2018 is concerned, the top ten companies have produced more than 2 million tons, and the concentration is close to 70%.
The back of it is inseparable from the promotion of policy. In 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued the “Technical Policy for Pollution Prevention and Control of Titanium Dioxide Industry”, which clearly encourages the chlorination method, the joint production of sulfuric acid method to clean the production process of titanium dioxide, and eliminates the heavy pollution production process of traditional sulfuric acid. The "Lithium Dioxide White Product Energy Consumption Limit" promulgated in 2015 stipulates the limit value and access value of the energy consumption per unit of titanium dioxide production. Driven by the policy, since 2012, the concentration of production capacity of titanium dioxide enterprises has been rising, and the increase in production concentration has become more obvious. With the tightening of environmental protection policies, domestic small and medium-sized production enterprises are struggling, and the domestic titanium dioxide industry will usher in a new wave of integration.
