It’s a tough life being a titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment producer. The product is essentially an intermediate raw material absolutely vital to the manufacture of any end product requiring a white colour.
That’s the good news, because the global and high volume markets of paints, plastics and paper are the primary outlets for TiO2. These end products are in consistent long term demand, and naturally show a growth curve as regional economies recover and prosper, and construction projects get underway. Although they also dip when recessions kick in.
However, the flip side is that TiO2 producers are utterly hamstrung by their dependence on just two main raw materials (feedstock) - the titanium bearing minerals ilmenite and rutile - which have limited commercially developed sources worldwide operated by a select group of feedstock producers.
The bad news is that despite recovering demand for TiO2 pigment in the end...