examining the feasibility of establishing a new 40,000-50,000 tonnes/y TiO 2 pigment plant. (See 'Focus on Pigments ', Sep 2001, 4). But the Beijing Government made it clear that it would not grant environmental approval for a new sulfate-route plant of this size. In consequence, PanGang decided to expand by acquisition and to gain access to chloride-route technology.
Last November, PanGang announced that it had completed a tripartite merger, joining its own TiO 2 operations with those of Jinzhou Ferroalloys (at Jinzhou-Taihe, Liaonong province) and of Chongqing YuGang Titanium White (at Chongqing-Banan, Sichuan province).
Jinzhou Ferroalloys operates the only chloride-route TiO 2 plant in the country. This has a nameplate capacity of 5000 tonnes/y, but it has consistently operated well below capacity ever since start-up in the mid-1990s. Jinzhou Ferroalloys also operates a 10,000 tonnes/y sulfateroute TiO 2 plant. Following the tripartite merger, PanJin was created as the operating company in charge of TiO 2 operations at Jinzhou-Taihe.
Chongqing YuGang's 15,000 tonnes/y sulfate-route TiO 2 plant, built with technical assistance from a Polish engineering contractor, was commissioned in early 1996. In early 2002, a "special supervision" order was served on the company by the Shenzhen Securities Exchange, reflecting anxieties over Chongqing YuGang's financial status. Presumably, PanGang will help to resolve these problems and clear (or transfer) outstanding debts.
PanGang recently announced plans to raise capacity at all its TiO 2 pigment plants. At its Panzhihua plant, which makes exclusively anatase grades, capacity will be stepped up from 12,000 tonnes/y to 15,000 tonnes/y. At the Chongqing-Banan plant, which makes exclusively rutile grades, capacity will be stepped up from 18,000 tonnes/y to 36,000 tonnes/y by June 2004. At Jinzhou-Taihe, overall TiO 2 capacity will be raised from 15,000 tonnes/y to 30,000 tonnes/y. It is not yet clear whether this will involve a substantial increase in the size of the chloride-route facility.