Everybody is talking about titanium-dioxide. Worldwide prices are rising, and in Europe the industry is also facing a possible classification of titanium-dioxide as a cancerogenic substance. We have gathered five facts about the world’s most important pigment.
White is beautiful. Modern white paints and coatings are completely dependent on titanium-dioxide. (source: robert – Fotolia)
Many industries are utilising titanium-dioxide. However, no-one depends on the pigment as much as the coatings industry. Around 55 % of all titanium-dioxide is used for coatings, followed by the plastics (25 %) and the paper (9%) industry. You will also find it in cosmetics, tooth paste, sun lotion and printing inks, even though the global consumption share for these applications is rather small.
Regional demand for titanium-dioxide
The regional demand for titanium-dioxide correlates closely with the location of industrial hubs. So it comes as no surprise that China alone uses a third of the global TiO2 production. Europe and North America come in second and third, respectively.
Event tip:
To help you tackle latest challenges with titanium-dioxide we are organizing the EC Ti02 Forum: maximise white_pigment efficiency. The conference will help you to optimize costs, refresh your knowledge and gives you updates on regulatory issues alongside the opportunity to network with some of the best experts in the coatings industry.
Supplier market in flux
In recent years the supplier market has seen some changes. DuPont and Huntsman spun-off their titanium-dioxide businesses, other companies sold theirs to competitors and others merged. For the coatings industry this is not necessarily a good situation, less competition on the TiO2-market is not an ideal situation
Per capita consumtion of white pigment
If you look at the titanium-dioxide consumption per capita, the difference between countries can be quite distinct. While Germany has the highest demand with approximately 4.17 kg of titanium-dioxide per capita and year, Brazil for instance only uses 0.95 kg. Of course Brazil’s economy is not as industrialised as the German one. However, consumption per capita in Japan is also at only 1.77 kg per capita and year. And nobody would argue that Japan is less industrialised than Germany.
Pigment feedstock and manufacturing
There are different feedstocks and ways to manufacturing TiO2 that can be used in the coatings industry. The two most important processes are the sulphate and the chloride process. The most important feedstock for the first one is ilmenite, while the later uses mostly rutile. However, other minerals with a high TiO2content can be used, too.
