- Email: [email protected]
IM-21 in Budapest: congress celebrates coming-of-age
FOCUS ON P I G M E N T S A MONTHLY REPORT FROM REG ADAMS
MAY 2012
IM-21 IN BUDAPEST: CONGRESS CELEBRATES COMING-OF-AGE
In this issue
MARKETS
3-4
Optical brighteners from China & Taiwan dumped in the US Mounting Chinese TiO2 oversupply puts pressure on local prices
PLANTS
4-6
Asia Carbon expands carbon black capacity in China Huber’s Indian precipitated SiO2 plant delayed to in 4Q 2012 Ampacet moves European HQ to Dudelange & sets up new masterbatch plant
COMPANIES
6-7
Evonik sells colorants business to Arsenal Capital Partners PPG & Argex collaborate on making TiO2 pigments in a different way
ERRATUM
7
EU sunset date for chrome yellow & moly orange will be 21 May 2015
EVENTS
PIGMENTS
AN INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER MONITORING TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PIGMENTS SECTOR ISSN 0969–6210
8
PIGMENTS
The Budapest Intercontinental Hotel across the River Danube from the Royal Palace and St Matthias Church on Castle Hill was the impressive venue for the 21st Industrial Minerals Congress (IM-21). This biennial event has certainly “come of age” and is widely regarded as the foremost conference for discussions and presentations on the full spectrum of minerals extraction, processing, consumption and trade. Mr Mike O’Driscoll opened the proceedings with an excellent 43-slide presentation highlighting a number of issues facing the industry. He pointed out that for all minerals and for most of the products derived from them, the main drivers for increasing consumption are economic growth, population growth and infrastructure development. The development of alternative sources of energy (shale oil/gas, lithium-ion batteries, fuel-cells, photovoltaic cells and wind power) has had a major impact in stimulating demand for frac sand and other proppants, lithium, fluorspar, graphite, borates, silica, quartz and rare earths. For some sectors, limited geological resource distribution is a major issue, the classic example being the rare earth minerals, with China currently accounting for more than 90% of world production. Major economies in Europe, North America and Japan are reliant on imports for a substantial proportion of their raw material requirements. For example, imports account for more than 50% of the US requirement for chromite, for nearly 70% of its requirement for titanium minerals and for more than 80% of its
PIGMENTS
PIGMENTS
antimony requirement. China has traditionally been a major source of several raw materials, but because of the need to satisfy domestic consumption and the desire to raise the value-added content of the country’s exports, the Chinese Government often takes steps to limit or discourage the export of certain minerals by means of taxes, licences or quotas. These steps can have sudden and unexpected consequences for established global trade flows. Another theme highlighted in Mr O’Driscoll’s presentation was vertical integration, whereby a customer aims to secure supplies of a vital raw material. In the TiO2 field, Cristal’s acquisition of Bemax and the merger of Tronox with Exxaro provide examples of upstream integration of a pigment producer with a titanium mineral producer. Going one step further, the technology alliance between PPG (one of the world’s leading paintmakers) and Argex Mining (an exploration and process development company) could be seen as integration right along the valuechain. Recycling has been an important facet of the metals industry for many years and recycling is beginning to make an impact in certain mineral sectors. Given the tonnages of industrial minerals that need to be moved from producing areas to processing sites and consumer countries, trends in the industry have an important impact on the logistics sector and vice versa. The concept of “bulkconbulk” is an important innovation here, whereby dry minerals are loaded into standard 3-12 metre cargo-containers for ocean freighters,
PIGMENTS
PIGMENTS
FOCUS followed by barge movement of smaller bulk consignments using inland waterways. Another important pointer for the future is the opening up of opportunities for mineral exploration and production in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, South America, Mongolia and the Russian Far East. For Mr O’Driscoll, the Budapest conference was the stage for his last appearance as Editor of ‘Industrial Minerals.’ After 16 years in the post, he has now moved on within the company to take up a new role heading a team compiling multiclient research studies and newsletters on specific topics, as well as catering for corporate training and workshops. Following Mr O’Driscoll’s opening overview, the first morning’s plenary session continued with keynote papers from Mr Gilles Michel (Chief Executive of Imerys) and Ms Xiaoling Liu (Chief Executive of Rio Tinto Minerals) echoing some of the same themes. In addition, Mr Michel drew attention to the low carbon footprints of most industrial minerals, compared against the high carbon footprints of plastics and aluminium. He also mentioned remarkably high figures for global recycling rates, counting all applications – 54% for calcium carbonate, 55% for talc and 64% for feldspar. Ms Xiaoling spoke about the current “second wave of industrialisation” affecting a number of large countries, notably China, India and Brazil. She also highlighted the twin facts that world population growth is slowing down and that people generally are living longer. The median age of the world’s population was about 25 years old in 1950; by the year 2100, the median age will be nearly 45. Urbanisation is also a key factor affecting the demand for products derived from minerals. By the year 2030, more than 5 bn people will be living in cities or conurbations. As well as promoting demand for consumer products and infrastructure, these trends also mean that people have greater expectations regarding personal and environmental health and safety, which in turn impose certain operating constraints and standards on miners and mineral processors. The fourth presentation addressing issues affecting a wide spectrum of industrial minerals was delivered by Mr Richard Shaw (of the British Geological Survey). Memorable soundbites included: “If it can’t be grown, it has to
2
ON
PIGMENTS
be mined” and “Mineral deposits are rare concentrations in a small volume of crust that are very unevenly distributed throughout the planet.” Mr Shaw described the ongoing study commissioned by the Royal Society of Chemistry to assess the various risks to sustaining supplies of each of the commercially significant chemical elements. Dr Ian Wilson (a UK-based consultant) gave a very good overview of the world talc industry. Talc is important as a pigment and functional filler, with the key characteristics of softness and platiness. A layer of talc in a deposit is essentially a brucite sheet sandwiched between two silica sheets. The layers are held together by weak Van der Waal’s forces, so that they can easily slide over one another. World talc capacity is currently of the order of 6 M tonnes/y, of which Asia (mainly China and India) accounts for 54%; Europe (notably Finland and France) accounts for 24%; North America (mainly the US) accounts for 12%; South America (mainly Brazil) accounts for 8%; the remaining 2% being contributed by Africa and Oceania. China alone accounts for one-third of world talc capacity, with Liaoning province contributing 900,000 tonnes; Guangxi province 550,000 tonnes; and Shandong province 350,000 tonnes. In terms of corporate ownership, the top three companies are Imerys (20% of global capacity); Mondo Minerals (13%); and the Golcha group (6%). Fourteen companies each account for 2-3% of global capacity. They comprise: Aihai, Beihai, Guiguang, Huawei, Laizhou, Longguang, Pingdu and Shuiquan (all based in China); and American Talc and Mineral Technologies Inc (based in the US); Golcha Associated and the Jai group (based in India); Nippon Talc (of Japan); and IMI Fabi (of Italy). China has become the predominant source in global talc trade and the Chinese Government’s system of export quotas exerts an important influence on trade flows. For 1H 2012, the quota for total exports from China was set at 407,994 tonnes, of which 30% was allocated to three companies (Guilin Guiguang, Liaoning Jiayi Minerals & Metals and Guangxi GreatChem Minerals Trading). A further 30% was allocated to the next six largest export suppliers and the remaining 40% was allocated to 31 smaller suppliers. World talc
consumption for 2011 breaks down as: 34% for paper; 23% for plastics; 15% for ceramics; 12% for paint; 6% for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals; 5% for agriculture; and 5% for sundry other applications. Dr Wilson also chaired one of the first conference sessions on the Wednesday morning, during which there were four presentations related to TiO2 pigments and feedstocks. Mr Machiel Keegel (of TZMI) spoke about the importance of the “emerging markets” as drivers of world TiO2 pigment consumption growth. In 2010, they accounted for 57% of world consumption. By 2015, they will account for 62% of world consumption. The changes in the regional structure of demand naturally have an impact on the structure of world demand by enduse. According to TZMI, the current consumption tonnage of paper is seven times higher in the “mature economies” (taken all together) than in the “emerging markets” (taken all together). The mature:emerging consumption ratios are estimated at 5:1 for plastics; at 4:1 for architectural paints; and at 2:1 for industrial paints. Mr Keegel noted that Chinese suppliers are becoming increasingly important in world markets. China is already the largest single country source of TiO2 pigment imports into North America, Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It is the second largest country source of TiO2 pigment imports into Western Europe and Latin America. Meanwhile, most of the multinational pigment suppliers have been hesitant about expanding capacity, partly because of uncertainties about securing feedstock supplies. Mr Keegel believes that they will be able to maintain their currently healthy profit margins by continuing to push through pigment price increases, offsetting higher feedstock costs. Mr Reg Adams (of Artikol) also addressed this fundamental issue in his paper titled: “Enough TiO2 supply to meet demand? A tricky balancing act.” According to Artikol, world TiO2 pigment consumption increased by 2.8% last year to reach 5.23 M tonnes. Global capacity at the end of 2011 was just over 7 M tonnes/y. (This is about 1 M tonnes/y higher than TZMI’s figure, probably mainly because of differing assessments of the Chinese situation). In terms of constant-value 2011 US dollars, the average annual TiO2 pigment price
MAY 2012
FOCUS per tonne fell back from $2700 in 2008 to $2619 in 2009, then rose by 5.2% to $2754 in 2010 and then soared by just over 30% to $3593 in 2011. The average price for 2012 is forecast at $4200, representing a year-on-year increase of 17%. After that, price increases are expected to moderate, but will still be positive, representing about 3% per annum growth in real terms and climaxing at a peak of $4800 in 2015. Mr Adams concluded his presentation by raising and answering ten fundamental questions, the ninth being: “Will there be enough TiO2 pigment to meet world demand?” He said: “Yes. Pigment supply will remain fairly tight, but should ease during 2013. This is not a repeat of the 1988/89 scenario, when customers simply could not get all the TiO2 they wanted. Unforeseen outages may cause shortages of certain grades locally from time to time. But there should be enough flexibility in the system to cope. No new greenfields plants will be built, other than in China. DuPont plans to add 350,000 tonnes/y of capacity at its existing plants by end2014. Other producers are adding some capacity by debottlenecking. Major Chinese suppliers will have more TiO2 to sell, both within China and in export markets.” Mr Adams was also reasonably optimistic about TiO2 feedstock supply sufficing to meet demand. After mid-2013, several new mines should be coming on-stream, easing the supply/demand balance and relieving the upward pressure on TiO2 feedstock prices.” Dr John Elder (of Hatch Engineering) echoed this optimism in his discussion of where new TiO2 feedstock supplies might come from. This was essentially an update of his presentation at the Scottsdale conference. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2011, 2). Dr Elder pointed out that there are at least 10 projects that could come to fruition within the next 2-5 years, each contributing 50,000-300,000 tonnes/y (TiO2 units) to global supply. For one reason or another, they won’t all succeed, but Dr Elder estimates that around 2-3 M tonnes/y (TiO2 units) of new feedstock capacity will emerge, representing a substantial addition to the 6.5 M tonnes/y (TiO2 units) produced in 2010/11. The Wednesday morning session on TiO2 closed with a presentation from Mr Neil Gawthorpe (of Sierra Rutile). Operating with a
MAY 2012
ON
PIGMENTS
single dredge on deposits in southern Sierra Leone, his company produced 68,000 tonnes of rutile in 2011. Thanks to the increased productivity, rutile production should rise to 80,000 tonnes in 2012. Thanks to the commissioning of a new dredge in 2013, coupled with campaigns for dry mining of localised high-grade areas and for processing tailings stockpiles, Sierra Rutile is confident that it can reach its rutile production target of 240,000 tonnes in 2015. Other papers presented at the Budapest conference that may be of interest to companies involved in various sectors of the pigment industry included: Mr Ottar Nakken (of Nordic Mining) discussing projects to mine anorthosite, quartz and rutile in Norway; Mr Ahmed Rasheed (of Rasheed Performance Minerals) discussing Egyptian bentonite and baryte; Ms Eileen Hao and Mr Robert Baylis (of Roskill’s) discussing zircon and other raw materials for the Chinese ceramics industry; Mr Joseph Keating (of Vitro Minerals) discussing the potential for recycled glass as a functional filler; Dr Jacek Kolacz (of Comex) discussing advanced sorting technologies as a means of economically removing impurities at an early mineral processing stage; Dr Dietmar Alber (of Hosokawa Alpine) discussing the micronisation of ground calcium carbonate; and Dr Oliver Pikhard (of Rhewum) discussing the ultrafine screening of zirconia. There was also a special session on rare earths on the Thursday morning, chaired by Ms Judith Chegwidden (of Roskill’s) and featuring presentations by: Mr Edwin Bentzen (of Lyntek) and Mr Vasili Nicoletopoulos (of Natural Resources GP). Reg Adams
The full set of 34 conference papers can be ordered for airmail delivery. For details, please contact: Ms Laura Syrett, Metal Bulletin Events, Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK, tel: +44 (0)20 7779 8252, e-mail: [email protected], website: http://www.indmin.com/events
MARKETS Evonik raises price for high-purity fine-grained TiO2 By comparison with Kronos and Sachtleben, Evonik Industries is a
very small-scale German producer of TiO2. Uniquely, it employs the Aerosil method of flame hydrolysis for making high-purity fine-grained TiO2, with an average particle size of less than 1000 nanometres, suitable for applications in catalysts and cosmetics. Evonik has announced a price rise of 12%, effective 1 May 2012, for its P-25 and similar grades. Press Release from: Evonik Industries AG, Rellinghauser Strasse 1-11, 45128 Essen, Germany, website: http://www.evonik.com (10 Apr 2012)
Optical brighteners from China & Taiwan dumped in the US In response to a petition from Clariant Corp in mid-2011, the US Department of Commerce (USDC) investigated allegations that certain optical brighteners (based on stilbenes) were being sold in the US at less than fair value. The focus was on imported products from Taiwan and China. A preliminary determination was issued by the US on 3 November 2011, assessing the “dumping margin” at 12.03% in respect of optical brighteners supplied by Teh FongMin International. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jan 2012, 3). Now, a final determination has been issued, with the dumping margin for Teh FongMin reassessed at 6.2%. Teh FongMin (headquartered in Taipei) claims to be one of the largest manufacturers of optical brighteners in the world, with a capacity of 46,000 tonnes/y. Its largest plant is at TaoYuan in northwestern Taiwan and it has two other plants, one at TaiShan (also in Taiwan) and one in Shandong province (Mainland China). Finally determined dumping margins were assessed at much higher rates for other suppliers: 63.98% for Zhejiang Transfar Whyyon Chemical; 95.29% for Zhenjiang Hongda Chemicals; and 109.95% for all other suppliers based in China. Original Source: Federal Register, 23 Mar 2012, 77 (57), 17027-17029 & 26 Mar 2012, 77 (58), 1743617439 (Website: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys)
Japan’s domestic TiO2 shipments boom According to the Japan Titanium Dioxide Industry Association (JTDA), Japanese production of TiO2 pigment increased by 1.9% to 156,126 tonnes in the nine months to end-December
3
MAY 2012
IM-21 IN BUDAPEST: CONGRESS CELEBRATES COMING-OF-AGE
In this issue
MARKETS
3-4
Optical brighteners from China & Taiwan dumped in the US Mounting Chinese TiO2 oversupply puts pressure on local prices
PLANTS
4-6
Asia Carbon expands carbon black capacity in China Huber’s Indian precipitated SiO2 plant delayed to in 4Q 2012 Ampacet moves European HQ to Dudelange & sets up new masterbatch plant
COMPANIES
6-7
Evonik sells colorants business to Arsenal Capital Partners PPG & Argex collaborate on making TiO2 pigments in a different way
ERRATUM
7
EU sunset date for chrome yellow & moly orange will be 21 May 2015
EVENTS
PIGMENTS
AN INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER MONITORING TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PIGMENTS SECTOR ISSN 0969–6210
8
PIGMENTS
The Budapest Intercontinental Hotel across the River Danube from the Royal Palace and St Matthias Church on Castle Hill was the impressive venue for the 21st Industrial Minerals Congress (IM-21). This biennial event has certainly “come of age” and is widely regarded as the foremost conference for discussions and presentations on the full spectrum of minerals extraction, processing, consumption and trade. Mr Mike O’Driscoll opened the proceedings with an excellent 43-slide presentation highlighting a number of issues facing the industry. He pointed out that for all minerals and for most of the products derived from them, the main drivers for increasing consumption are economic growth, population growth and infrastructure development. The development of alternative sources of energy (shale oil/gas, lithium-ion batteries, fuel-cells, photovoltaic cells and wind power) has had a major impact in stimulating demand for frac sand and other proppants, lithium, fluorspar, graphite, borates, silica, quartz and rare earths. For some sectors, limited geological resource distribution is a major issue, the classic example being the rare earth minerals, with China currently accounting for more than 90% of world production. Major economies in Europe, North America and Japan are reliant on imports for a substantial proportion of their raw material requirements. For example, imports account for more than 50% of the US requirement for chromite, for nearly 70% of its requirement for titanium minerals and for more than 80% of its
PIGMENTS
PIGMENTS
antimony requirement. China has traditionally been a major source of several raw materials, but because of the need to satisfy domestic consumption and the desire to raise the value-added content of the country’s exports, the Chinese Government often takes steps to limit or discourage the export of certain minerals by means of taxes, licences or quotas. These steps can have sudden and unexpected consequences for established global trade flows. Another theme highlighted in Mr O’Driscoll’s presentation was vertical integration, whereby a customer aims to secure supplies of a vital raw material. In the TiO2 field, Cristal’s acquisition of Bemax and the merger of Tronox with Exxaro provide examples of upstream integration of a pigment producer with a titanium mineral producer. Going one step further, the technology alliance between PPG (one of the world’s leading paintmakers) and Argex Mining (an exploration and process development company) could be seen as integration right along the valuechain. Recycling has been an important facet of the metals industry for many years and recycling is beginning to make an impact in certain mineral sectors. Given the tonnages of industrial minerals that need to be moved from producing areas to processing sites and consumer countries, trends in the industry have an important impact on the logistics sector and vice versa. The concept of “bulkconbulk” is an important innovation here, whereby dry minerals are loaded into standard 3-12 metre cargo-containers for ocean freighters,
PIGMENTS
PIGMENTS
FOCUS followed by barge movement of smaller bulk consignments using inland waterways. Another important pointer for the future is the opening up of opportunities for mineral exploration and production in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, South America, Mongolia and the Russian Far East. For Mr O’Driscoll, the Budapest conference was the stage for his last appearance as Editor of ‘Industrial Minerals.’ After 16 years in the post, he has now moved on within the company to take up a new role heading a team compiling multiclient research studies and newsletters on specific topics, as well as catering for corporate training and workshops. Following Mr O’Driscoll’s opening overview, the first morning’s plenary session continued with keynote papers from Mr Gilles Michel (Chief Executive of Imerys) and Ms Xiaoling Liu (Chief Executive of Rio Tinto Minerals) echoing some of the same themes. In addition, Mr Michel drew attention to the low carbon footprints of most industrial minerals, compared against the high carbon footprints of plastics and aluminium. He also mentioned remarkably high figures for global recycling rates, counting all applications – 54% for calcium carbonate, 55% for talc and 64% for feldspar. Ms Xiaoling spoke about the current “second wave of industrialisation” affecting a number of large countries, notably China, India and Brazil. She also highlighted the twin facts that world population growth is slowing down and that people generally are living longer. The median age of the world’s population was about 25 years old in 1950; by the year 2100, the median age will be nearly 45. Urbanisation is also a key factor affecting the demand for products derived from minerals. By the year 2030, more than 5 bn people will be living in cities or conurbations. As well as promoting demand for consumer products and infrastructure, these trends also mean that people have greater expectations regarding personal and environmental health and safety, which in turn impose certain operating constraints and standards on miners and mineral processors. The fourth presentation addressing issues affecting a wide spectrum of industrial minerals was delivered by Mr Richard Shaw (of the British Geological Survey). Memorable soundbites included: “If it can’t be grown, it has to
2
ON
PIGMENTS
be mined” and “Mineral deposits are rare concentrations in a small volume of crust that are very unevenly distributed throughout the planet.” Mr Shaw described the ongoing study commissioned by the Royal Society of Chemistry to assess the various risks to sustaining supplies of each of the commercially significant chemical elements. Dr Ian Wilson (a UK-based consultant) gave a very good overview of the world talc industry. Talc is important as a pigment and functional filler, with the key characteristics of softness and platiness. A layer of talc in a deposit is essentially a brucite sheet sandwiched between two silica sheets. The layers are held together by weak Van der Waal’s forces, so that they can easily slide over one another. World talc capacity is currently of the order of 6 M tonnes/y, of which Asia (mainly China and India) accounts for 54%; Europe (notably Finland and France) accounts for 24%; North America (mainly the US) accounts for 12%; South America (mainly Brazil) accounts for 8%; the remaining 2% being contributed by Africa and Oceania. China alone accounts for one-third of world talc capacity, with Liaoning province contributing 900,000 tonnes; Guangxi province 550,000 tonnes; and Shandong province 350,000 tonnes. In terms of corporate ownership, the top three companies are Imerys (20% of global capacity); Mondo Minerals (13%); and the Golcha group (6%). Fourteen companies each account for 2-3% of global capacity. They comprise: Aihai, Beihai, Guiguang, Huawei, Laizhou, Longguang, Pingdu and Shuiquan (all based in China); and American Talc and Mineral Technologies Inc (based in the US); Golcha Associated and the Jai group (based in India); Nippon Talc (of Japan); and IMI Fabi (of Italy). China has become the predominant source in global talc trade and the Chinese Government’s system of export quotas exerts an important influence on trade flows. For 1H 2012, the quota for total exports from China was set at 407,994 tonnes, of which 30% was allocated to three companies (Guilin Guiguang, Liaoning Jiayi Minerals & Metals and Guangxi GreatChem Minerals Trading). A further 30% was allocated to the next six largest export suppliers and the remaining 40% was allocated to 31 smaller suppliers. World talc
consumption for 2011 breaks down as: 34% for paper; 23% for plastics; 15% for ceramics; 12% for paint; 6% for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals; 5% for agriculture; and 5% for sundry other applications. Dr Wilson also chaired one of the first conference sessions on the Wednesday morning, during which there were four presentations related to TiO2 pigments and feedstocks. Mr Machiel Keegel (of TZMI) spoke about the importance of the “emerging markets” as drivers of world TiO2 pigment consumption growth. In 2010, they accounted for 57% of world consumption. By 2015, they will account for 62% of world consumption. The changes in the regional structure of demand naturally have an impact on the structure of world demand by enduse. According to TZMI, the current consumption tonnage of paper is seven times higher in the “mature economies” (taken all together) than in the “emerging markets” (taken all together). The mature:emerging consumption ratios are estimated at 5:1 for plastics; at 4:1 for architectural paints; and at 2:1 for industrial paints. Mr Keegel noted that Chinese suppliers are becoming increasingly important in world markets. China is already the largest single country source of TiO2 pigment imports into North America, Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It is the second largest country source of TiO2 pigment imports into Western Europe and Latin America. Meanwhile, most of the multinational pigment suppliers have been hesitant about expanding capacity, partly because of uncertainties about securing feedstock supplies. Mr Keegel believes that they will be able to maintain their currently healthy profit margins by continuing to push through pigment price increases, offsetting higher feedstock costs. Mr Reg Adams (of Artikol) also addressed this fundamental issue in his paper titled: “Enough TiO2 supply to meet demand? A tricky balancing act.” According to Artikol, world TiO2 pigment consumption increased by 2.8% last year to reach 5.23 M tonnes. Global capacity at the end of 2011 was just over 7 M tonnes/y. (This is about 1 M tonnes/y higher than TZMI’s figure, probably mainly because of differing assessments of the Chinese situation). In terms of constant-value 2011 US dollars, the average annual TiO2 pigment price
MAY 2012
FOCUS per tonne fell back from $2700 in 2008 to $2619 in 2009, then rose by 5.2% to $2754 in 2010 and then soared by just over 30% to $3593 in 2011. The average price for 2012 is forecast at $4200, representing a year-on-year increase of 17%. After that, price increases are expected to moderate, but will still be positive, representing about 3% per annum growth in real terms and climaxing at a peak of $4800 in 2015. Mr Adams concluded his presentation by raising and answering ten fundamental questions, the ninth being: “Will there be enough TiO2 pigment to meet world demand?” He said: “Yes. Pigment supply will remain fairly tight, but should ease during 2013. This is not a repeat of the 1988/89 scenario, when customers simply could not get all the TiO2 they wanted. Unforeseen outages may cause shortages of certain grades locally from time to time. But there should be enough flexibility in the system to cope. No new greenfields plants will be built, other than in China. DuPont plans to add 350,000 tonnes/y of capacity at its existing plants by end2014. Other producers are adding some capacity by debottlenecking. Major Chinese suppliers will have more TiO2 to sell, both within China and in export markets.” Mr Adams was also reasonably optimistic about TiO2 feedstock supply sufficing to meet demand. After mid-2013, several new mines should be coming on-stream, easing the supply/demand balance and relieving the upward pressure on TiO2 feedstock prices.” Dr John Elder (of Hatch Engineering) echoed this optimism in his discussion of where new TiO2 feedstock supplies might come from. This was essentially an update of his presentation at the Scottsdale conference. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2011, 2). Dr Elder pointed out that there are at least 10 projects that could come to fruition within the next 2-5 years, each contributing 50,000-300,000 tonnes/y (TiO2 units) to global supply. For one reason or another, they won’t all succeed, but Dr Elder estimates that around 2-3 M tonnes/y (TiO2 units) of new feedstock capacity will emerge, representing a substantial addition to the 6.5 M tonnes/y (TiO2 units) produced in 2010/11. The Wednesday morning session on TiO2 closed with a presentation from Mr Neil Gawthorpe (of Sierra Rutile). Operating with a
MAY 2012
ON
PIGMENTS
single dredge on deposits in southern Sierra Leone, his company produced 68,000 tonnes of rutile in 2011. Thanks to the increased productivity, rutile production should rise to 80,000 tonnes in 2012. Thanks to the commissioning of a new dredge in 2013, coupled with campaigns for dry mining of localised high-grade areas and for processing tailings stockpiles, Sierra Rutile is confident that it can reach its rutile production target of 240,000 tonnes in 2015. Other papers presented at the Budapest conference that may be of interest to companies involved in various sectors of the pigment industry included: Mr Ottar Nakken (of Nordic Mining) discussing projects to mine anorthosite, quartz and rutile in Norway; Mr Ahmed Rasheed (of Rasheed Performance Minerals) discussing Egyptian bentonite and baryte; Ms Eileen Hao and Mr Robert Baylis (of Roskill’s) discussing zircon and other raw materials for the Chinese ceramics industry; Mr Joseph Keating (of Vitro Minerals) discussing the potential for recycled glass as a functional filler; Dr Jacek Kolacz (of Comex) discussing advanced sorting technologies as a means of economically removing impurities at an early mineral processing stage; Dr Dietmar Alber (of Hosokawa Alpine) discussing the micronisation of ground calcium carbonate; and Dr Oliver Pikhard (of Rhewum) discussing the ultrafine screening of zirconia. There was also a special session on rare earths on the Thursday morning, chaired by Ms Judith Chegwidden (of Roskill’s) and featuring presentations by: Mr Edwin Bentzen (of Lyntek) and Mr Vasili Nicoletopoulos (of Natural Resources GP). Reg Adams
The full set of 34 conference papers can be ordered for airmail delivery. For details, please contact: Ms Laura Syrett, Metal Bulletin Events, Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK, tel: +44 (0)20 7779 8252, e-mail: [email protected], website: http://www.indmin.com/events
MARKETS Evonik raises price for high-purity fine-grained TiO2 By comparison with Kronos and Sachtleben, Evonik Industries is a
very small-scale German producer of TiO2. Uniquely, it employs the Aerosil method of flame hydrolysis for making high-purity fine-grained TiO2, with an average particle size of less than 1000 nanometres, suitable for applications in catalysts and cosmetics. Evonik has announced a price rise of 12%, effective 1 May 2012, for its P-25 and similar grades. Press Release from: Evonik Industries AG, Rellinghauser Strasse 1-11, 45128 Essen, Germany, website: http://www.evonik.com (10 Apr 2012)
Optical brighteners from China & Taiwan dumped in the US In response to a petition from Clariant Corp in mid-2011, the US Department of Commerce (USDC) investigated allegations that certain optical brighteners (based on stilbenes) were being sold in the US at less than fair value. The focus was on imported products from Taiwan and China. A preliminary determination was issued by the US on 3 November 2011, assessing the “dumping margin” at 12.03% in respect of optical brighteners supplied by Teh FongMin International. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jan 2012, 3). Now, a final determination has been issued, with the dumping margin for Teh FongMin reassessed at 6.2%. Teh FongMin (headquartered in Taipei) claims to be one of the largest manufacturers of optical brighteners in the world, with a capacity of 46,000 tonnes/y. Its largest plant is at TaoYuan in northwestern Taiwan and it has two other plants, one at TaiShan (also in Taiwan) and one in Shandong province (Mainland China). Finally determined dumping margins were assessed at much higher rates for other suppliers: 63.98% for Zhejiang Transfar Whyyon Chemical; 95.29% for Zhenjiang Hongda Chemicals; and 109.95% for all other suppliers based in China. Original Source: Federal Register, 23 Mar 2012, 77 (57), 17027-17029 & 26 Mar 2012, 77 (58), 1743617439 (Website: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys)
Japan’s domestic TiO2 shipments boom According to the Japan Titanium Dioxide Industry Association (JTDA), Japanese production of TiO2 pigment increased by 1.9% to 156,126 tonnes in the nine months to end-December
3