Price wars in the titanium dioxide (TiO
2) industry have reached a crescendo in recent weeks and could result in a revolution in the way the industry is structured.
Titanium bearing raw materials such as ilmenite and rutile, derived from mineral sand, are at the centre of storm.
For the first time the suppliers of these minerals hold the balance of negotiating power in the $10bn TiO2 industry.
A generation of significant underinvestment in new sources has gone unchecked and now the buyers of these minerals, the TiO2 manufacturers, are feeling the consequences.
The once powerful producers of the white pigment – including huge chemical groups like DuPont – are now at the mercy of mining minnows thanks to a huge increase in capacity from China, which is bereft of its own titanium natural resources.
Goldman Sachs data outlining China’s foreign raw material...