Prices of white pigments rise worldwide / Availability remains tight / Huntsman force majeure adds more pressure / Further cost reductions must come soon / France seeks classification as carcinogenic

摘要

The big depression on the titanium dioxide market is over. Demand is rising in all the regions of the world - in some cases quite considerably - and with it, the prices. The modernisation and consolidation above all of the production plants in the western hemisphere over the last few years appears to have borne fruit. After a prolonged downturn in the years from 2013 to 2015, prices have definitely turned around, first rather tentatively but now more strongly. Between March 2016 and January 2017, notations climbed by around EUR 500/t, which is also clearly recognisable in PVC applications such as the dry blends for white PVC profiles and sheets that are covered by PIE's reports. Depending on the source and quality, prices currently stand at maximum EUR 2,500/t in Europe, and up to USD 3,000/t in North America and Asia.