Since the beginning of the year, the titanium dioxide market has changed the trend of fluctuations last year, showing a wave of rising prices. In this context, titanium dioxide market leaders continue to extend and improve the industrial chain, improve the upstream raw material market control ability. This has become a new trend in the titanium dioxide industry following the horizontal integration.

According to the statistics of the business community, since 2019, the reference price of the titanium dioxide market has risen from 15,950 yuan per ton at the beginning of the year, and has risen to 16,500 yuan per ton. Longboa Baili (13.950, 0.00, 0.00%) announced on February 13, the company's various models of sulphuric acid process titanium dioxide sales price on the basis of the original price for all kinds of customers in China increased 500 yuan/ton, for all kinds of international customers increased 100 US dollars/ton. Since then, the nuclear titanium dioxide (4.090, -0.08, -1.92%) and Jinpu titanium industry (3.720, 0.04, 1.09%) were also issued a price increase notice on 14 and 16, the price adjustment range and Longpython Baili consistent.

In such a market, China titanium dioxide leaders have in the control of raw materials on the force. On February 26, Longpython Baili announced that it intends to invest 2 billion yuan in Panxi area to make full use of local titanium concentrate resources and break the unfavorable situation that China's high-quality titanium chloride slag relies on imports for a long time.

According to the announcement, on February 26, Longpython Baili and Yanbian County people's government signed the "500,000 tons of titanium concentrate upgrade and transformation titanium chloride slag innovation project investment agreement", will invest 2 billion yuan to build 500,000 tons of titanium concentrate upgrade and transformation titanium chloride slag production line and supporting facilities, the production capacity will reach an annual output of 300,000 tons of titanium chloride slag. Used in the production of chlorination titanium dioxide and sponge titanium.

Longpython Baili said that the project will be conducive to further integration of the industrial chain, to achieve the company's development strategic goals, improve the company's core competitiveness. It is reported that the project will greatly improve the utilization value of titanium concentrate in Panxi area, obtain the high-quality titanium chloride slag products to meet the production of chloride titanium white, change China's long-term high-quality titanium chloride slag dependent on imports of unfavorable situation, enhance China's titanium industry in the international competitiveness; After the completion of the project, it will promote the scientific and technological progress of China's titanium industry, improve the quality of titanium dioxide products and the upgrading of titanium dioxide products, change the industrial pattern of titanium dioxide industry based on sulfuric acid method, and promote the optimization and upgrading of titanium industry structure, pull the sustainable and healthy development of Yanbian County industrial economy and promote the development of Panxi national strategic resources innovation and development pilot area.

Dragon Python Baili's upstream extension measures do not stop here. Looking through the announcement, Longpython Baili's current layout in the upstream titanium mine has reached an annual production capacity of about 800,000 tons, which can meet the supply of more than 70% of the production raw materials of the enterprise, greatly solving the problem of raw materials "stuck neck". Benefiting from this, Longpython Baili achieved a net profit of 1.97 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2018, an increase of 2.59% year-on-year. The company expects to make a net profit of 2.252 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan in 2018, up 10 percent to 20 percent year on year.

It is worth noting that not only the vertical extension, horizontal mergers have also become an important trend in the titanium dioxide industry. Previously, Shanghai News Information had statistics, the number of titanium dioxide enterprises in China in 2017 was 41, and the number was reduced to 39 in 2018. In 2018, the top ten enterprises produced more than 2 million tons, and the concentration was close to 70%.

It is inseparable from the promotion of policies. In 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued the "Titanium dioxide industry pollution control technology Policy", clearly will encourage chlorination, co-production of sulfuric acid method clean titanium dioxide production process, eliminate the traditional sulfuric acid method heavy pollution production process. The "titanium dioxide unit product energy consumption quota" issued in 2015 stipulates the limited value and access value of the energy consumption of the production of titanium dioxide unit product. Under the promotion of the policy, since 2012, the capacity concentration of titanium dioxide enterprises has been rising, and the improvement of production concentration is more obvious. As the tightening of environmental protection policies makes China's small and medium-sized production enterprises struggling, China's titanium dioxide industry will usher in a new round of consolidation.

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