MELBOURNE 2015: A Few More Shakes of the TiO2 Kaleidoscope

摘要

Melbourne again provided the venue for the 15th Informa Mineral Sands Conference, held towards the end of March 2015 at the Rendezvous Grand Hotel, almost directly opposite the iconic Flinders Street Railway Station, opened in 1910 -just five years ahead of the opening of the world's first TiO2 pigment plant. The opening paper titled A Few More Shakes of the VO2 Kaleidoscope - Changing Patterns in the Global Industry was presented by Mr Reg Adams (of Artikol). Among those changing patterns, he highlighted the recent and pending changes of ownership within the pigments sector. Huntsman bought Rockwood's TiO2 and coloured pigment assets in October 2014 and it then embarked on a sweeping programme of rationalisation ahead of floating off the business as a separate entity, a move that was finally implemented during August 2017. DuPont first announced in October 2013 its plans to spin off its TiO2 business, together with its fluorine-related businesses, an event that duly came to pass on 1 July 2015, so that Chemours became the new name in this industry. Following the death of Mr Harold Simmons at the end of 2013, control of Kronos devolved to his heirs and Mr Adams speculated that the company may eventually be sold, either as a single unit or as separate European and North American entities. That prediction has not yet come true - two of Mr Simmons' daughters still have controlling majority stakes in Kronos and in the other companies of the business empire (Contran, Valhi and NL Industries).