15 projects for adding TiO 2 capacity currently at the design, planning or construction stage, representing 1.28 M tonnes/y of additional capacity by 2015, though this addition will be offset by the closure of an indeterminate number of small plants that fail to comply with increasingly stringent pollution regulations.
'JCW' recently reported that China's TiO 2 production will exceed 1 M tonnes in 2008, compared against 950,000 tonnes in 2007. It noted that TiO 2 exports from China were sharply reduced during the second half of 2007, following the Government's removal of tax incentives for TiO 2 exporters. This led to intensified competition between Chinese suppliers to the domestic market, with China's own TiO 2 production continuing to rise. According to 'JCW', five suppliers added a total of 160,000 tonnes/y of new TiO 2 capacity during 2007, with a further 200,000 tonnes/y on the way.
China's TiO 2 production is virtually entirely based on sulfate-process plants, with producers traditionally relying mainly on ilmenite feedstock from indigenous sources in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Thanks to Astron and other traders, TiO 2 slag feedstock imported from Canada and Norway has become quite popular in recent years. Also, ilmenite imports from Australia and Vietnam have increased sharply. In full-year 2006, China imported more than 700,000 tonnes of ilmenite. In the first six months of 2007, China imported 570,000 tonnes, indicating a full-year figure in excess of 1.1 M tonnes. Indonesia and West Africa have emerged as important sources of ilmenite for the Chinese TiO 2 industry.