Read our market insights covering what you need to know about the titanium dioxide supply chain and alternative solutions to help you extend and optimize your supplies.
Extending your TiO2 supplies
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an essential ingredient used in paint and other coating formulations. As a workhorse ingredient, TiO2 offers long-lasting whiteness, brightness and opacity, making it one of the most commonly used additives for all types of coatings applications in the decorative art, food, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and beauty and personal care industries. TiO2 also provides similar benefits to plastics manufacturers with the addition of its mechanical strength and electrical properties.
Although versatile, beneficial and crucial in many use cases, titanium dioxide poses many challenges to paint and plastics manufacturers.
Pigment pain points: Pricing and regulatory changes
Top of mind is the high volatility of TiO2 market pricing and reduced product availability due to global supply chain disruptions and uncertainty. The market is currently experiencing a surge in titanium dioxide costs due to logistics delays in China, which supplies more than 50% of global demand for titanium dioxide.and increased demand for architectural paint for stay-at-home DIY projects.
In Europe, regulators considertitanium dioxide unsafe to use as a food additive, which will affect formulators who depend on titanium dioxide to improve color, texture and taste in food-grade applications.
As markets and requirements change, there are questions to consider when assessing the future of titanium dioxide in formulations for the coatings and plastics markets.
- If you are a formulator or producer for these industrial applications, Are you using any TiO2 you are able to source efficiently?
- How will you mitigate these issues when the next cycle comes around to secure your operations?
- And for the brands exporting final products to the EU, are you considering recent regulations around labeling requirements for TiO2 in your products?
3 market insights to know about the TiO2 supply chain:
TiO2 supply is tight
Through multiple global issues – from COVID-19 impacting production levels to increased demand in 2020 and 2021 from a range of coatings outlets – TiO2 supplies are constrained. Additionally, obwohl der Automobilmarkt in den vergangenen Jahren in Nordamerika gelitten hat, Schwellenländer sind schnell gewachsen, was zu einer höheren Beschichtungsvernutzung aus diesem Sektor führt. Der Beschichtungsmarkt dominiert bei der Verwendung von Titandioxid für Pigmente, aber TiO2 ist auch aufgrund seiner mechanischen Festigkeit und elektrischen Eigenschaften sowie seiner Witterungsbeständigkeit und UV-Schutz sehr geschätzt. Diese Schlüsseltypen haben den Druck auf die Versorgung erhöht, um mit der Nachfrage Schritt zu halten.
TiO2-Kosten steigen
Fast alle 3 Jahre, sehen die Märkte einen erwarteten Preisspitze. Jedoch, Die Nachfragekrise dieses Jahres fällt auf andere wichtige Gegenwinde wie die laufenden COVID-19-Kämpfe und zahlreiche höhere Gewalt von Schlüsselrohstofflieferanten auf den chemischen Märkten. Diese Probleme, along with supply-and-demand constraints, have led to the rapid increases in TiO2 prices that will likely remain through 2021 and into 2022.
Use of TiO2 can be reduced without dropping quality
Alternative routes to achieving high-quality, bright-white, opaque base coatings exist. These should be considered not only due to supply and price concerns with TiO2, but also from a desire to remain flexible in formulations as regulatory changes could make TiO2 less desirable in some markets.
