The titanium dioxide market is expected to develop steadily in 2017
The titanium dioxide market in 2016 has left amidst price increases, and in 2017 it has quietly come to us. In terms of the tradition of previous years, the first half of 2017, from January to March, is the off-season for titanium dioxide as always. Although manufacturers are aware of this, some large domestic and foreign companies intend to pull in the off-season. At the beginning of the month, there was a New Year’s price increase. For example, Baililian issued an announcement on the evening of January 5, stating that from now on, the sales price of various types of titanium dioxide (including sulfuric acid method titanium dioxide and chloride method titanium dioxide) will increase domestic prices based on the original price. All kinds of customers will be raised 700 yuan/ton, and international customers will be raised 100 dollars/ton. But not many manufacturers follow suit.
Titanium Dioxide Manufacturer
For the titanium dioxide manufacturers, the entire Chinese titanium dioxide manufacturers basically have no plans to stop production during the Spring Festival this year, and they are doing their best to deliver the original orders. Then it will face a very prominent problem, that is, the existing warehouse inventory does not contain so many goods. Whether it is inland production plants or coastal production plants, the warehouses can basically only store about half a month of inventory, and even some factories can only Keep it in inventory for about a week.
In previous years, such as the Chinese New Year in 2015, many titanium dioxide plants were shut down for maintenance during the off-season of the Spring Festival, so as to avoid excessive supply of goods and use of precious capital flows. Nowadays, in order to hand over the 16-year order, each company is producing at full capacity, and warehouse explosion is inevitable. After the warehouse explosion, if the downstream goods are slow to get the goods and the funds are not in place, the impact on the titanium dioxide factory can be imagined.
downstream use unit
This round of the Spring Festival basically ends on February 10th, and the time for downstream manufacturers to resume production is approximately between February 10th and February 20th, some of them are around the beginning of March, and very few will resume in mid-March. In order to consume titanium dioxide, the main market is basically around the beginning of March according to the tradition of previous years. The skyrocketing of titanium dioxide in 2016 will cause a large number of downstream customers to desperately buy goods. At present, about half of downstream customers have inventory for several months. As far as the current situation of the downstream market is concerned, the desire of customers to get the goods in early March will not be very strong. In addition, it should be noted that in previous years, the strong desire to obtain goods would not be shown until the peak season in May.
Environmental pressure
In 2016, the state made a major effort to conduct long-term environmental protection inspections and rectifications on chemical companies. A considerable number of companies with serious pollution were shut down and some responsible persons were arrested and punished. As a member of a chemical company, the domestic titanium dioxide factory has been severely tested, but because of the implementation of the policy, it has basically passed the customs smoothly.
In 2017, China's environmental protection law enforcement will only strengthen and not weaken. At the end of 2016, environmental law enforcement has focused on environmental law enforcement inspections on a large number of downstream companies such as coatings. At present, there are more than 5,000 medium-sized coating companies in China, but the ones that are really bigger and stronger are rare, so it is also the case to shut down and integrate downstream coating companies. A matter of urgency. Affected by this, downstream coating companies will inevitably close down a considerable number of weak and small companies in the next few years, which will have a certain impact on the short-term sales of titanium dioxide, but in the long run, it will benefit the development of China's coatings industry. .
Domestic production capacity increase
At the end of 2016, Panzhihua Iron and Steel's new titanium plant was successfully put into operation. The output of the new plant's rutile titanium dioxide reached the level of 100,000 tons. It is expected that the full-line production will be smooth in March 2017. Yunnan Zechang resumed production as "Kunming Donghao Titanium Industry Co., Ltd." On January 17th, R-251 products continued to roll off the production line successfully, and all indicators have basically returned to their original levels after testing. Zechang's total production capacity is 60,000 tons a year. Ruikang Titanium Industry in Xichang is preparing to resume production after the Spring Festival, and its annual output will reach about 60,000 tons. In this way, in 2017, China's titanium dioxide industry will increase the production capacity of rutile titanium dioxide by nearly 200,000 tons, which will greatly alleviate the shortage of supply in 2016.
The titanium dioxide market is stable in 2017
At present, the titanium dioxide industry is booming, the market is still on the upward path, and the manufacturers have fewer new orders, mainly to execute new orders. Most of the factory's orders have been received in February and March of 2017, and the production schedule of most manufacturers in January is full. Most downstream companies choose to stock up before the year, so the downstream demand for goods in February and March after the year is not high. Some manufacturers may try to increase prices in February to stimulate downstream demand for goods in advance. The general trading market atmosphere is relatively strong until May. In the second half of the year, the main turning point is the traditional September and October. If the off-season of July and August can be smoothly transitioned, then the increase in the peak season of September and October will not be very large. However, the market still regards supply and demand as the vane.
According to the current government GDP growth rate of the Chinese economy, the overall economy should be slightly stronger than in 2016, so that the use of the entire downstream market of titanium dioxide should be at least the same as in 2016, there will be no major fluctuations, and there will be no 2015 The trough situation like the year. Therefore, in 2017, China's titanium dioxide will not have a dozen consecutive rises in 2016, and it will generally be stable, and the supply situation will be relatively smooth. If there is a price increase, it will not be as intense as two or three consecutive increases in January 2016. Let us wait and see how the specific market will develop.
2017 is a year to show the strength of various titanium dioxide manufacturers.
