Nerves of titanium

Abstract

"The question we get asked all the time is, what are the repercussions of bringing on a 200,000 tonne line in a market that's from some vantage points already overserved," O'[Sullivan] sad. "Rest assured, we've offset this with some decline in other asset output. Just like we've always done, and I suspect everyone else always does, we manage a global circuit of capabilities designed to find the sweet spot between customer needs and our needs. I don't think that's unique." The Thann plant in France was the first in the world to produce TiO[subscript]2 in 1922 and uses a sulphate-based process. The company's Brazilian plant in Bahia, located around 20km from Salvador also produces TiO[subscript]2 using the sulphate process. [Cristal]'s remaining five plants utilise the chloride process for TiO[subscript]2 production. "In the past few years, demand for TiO[subscript]2 in plastic and paper has increased faster than for paint and ink," [George Chen] said. "The demand for wallpaper increased by over 15% in 2015 and demand for TiO[subscript]2 in Chinese wallpaper reached over 220,000 tonnes in the same year."