2009 is an extraordinary year for the titanium dioxide industry. Although the financial crisis started in 2008 is still rampant this year, the activity of the titanium dioxide industry has increased significantly compared with previous years. The undercurrent of change is flowing in every corner of the titanium dioxide industry. The competition in the titanium dioxide market is rising, and the smoke of titanium dioxide enterprises seizing sales territory is everywhere, It has made a great contribution to the economic situation in 2009. In 2009, the most attention of the titanium dioxide industry was the rising price events all over the world. After the Spring Festival, the global titanium dioxide giants set off a wave of rising prices of titanium dioxide products, among which DuPont, a giant titanium dioxide enterprise, led the price adjustment of titanium dioxide products.

At the beginning of May this year, DuPont titanium technologies, an American pigment manufacturer, announced to increase the prices of all titanium dioxide in North America, Europe, the Middle East and other regions, taking the lead in setting off a wave of price increases in the still sluggish economic environment at the beginning of this year. The specific price increase measures will be implemented from July 1, 2009. The price of titanium dioxide in the Middle East will be increased by US $100 per ton, that in Europe will be increased by Euro 50 per ton, and that in Asia will be increased by US $50 per ton. In addition, DuPont will increase the price of titanium dioxide in the North American market by 2 cents / pound (44 dollars / ton) from August 1. Kronos international, the world's top 10 supplier of titanium dioxide, also announced in May this year that it will increase the price of titanium dioxide products in Western and Eastern Europe by 75 euro / ton or US $100 / ton from June 1 or according to the contract license date, and increase the price of titanium dioxide products in North America by 4 cents / pound or US $88 / ton. To the surprise of the titanium dioxide industry, Kronos announced in May that it would raise the price of titanium dioxide in Europe and the United States from June 1. Recently, it announced again that it would raise the price of titanium dioxide of all grades in regions outside North America and Europe, including Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The price increase is valid from August 1, 2009, and the price increase range is US $100 per ton .

Then, Huntsman, the third largest titanium dioxide company in the world, announced a price increase for titanium dioxide. The specific measures for the price increase are as follows: increasing the price of titanium dioxide products in North America by US $0.02 per pound, effective from August 1, 2009; increasing the price of titanium dioxide products in Europe by EU $50 per ton, effective from July 1, 2009; increasing the price of titanium dioxide products in North America by US $0.02 per pound, effective from August 1, 2009; Increase the price of titanium dioxide products in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East by US $100 / T, effective from July 1, 2009. In July, Huntsman raised the price of titanium dioxide products in North America and Europe again. The pigment business department of Huntsman announced that it would increase the price of all grades of titanium dioxide by 0.03 US dollars per pound in North America and 100 euro per ton or 150 US dollars per ton in Europe with effect from August 1, 2009. After a short time, Cristal global, the world's leading titanium dioxide manufacturer, also announced a rise in titanium dioxide prices in June. Since July 1, it has increased titanium dioxide prices in Asia Pacific and Latin America (except Brazil) by US $100 / T and US $200 / T respectively, and Brazil's price has increased by US $100 / T. Recently, Cristal struck while the iron was hot and set off a wave of price increase again. It decided to increase the price of all anatase and rutile titanium dioxide products of Diona brand and Cristal brand in North America by 3 cents / pound from August 1, and raise the price by 150 US dollars / ton in Brazil. This price increase is another result after the previous price increase of 2 cents / pound in North America (effective on August 1) and 100 US dollars / ton in Brazil (effective on July 1) Second price increase

The price increase of international titanium dioxide giants has sounded a clarion call for the global price increase of titanium dioxide. However, from the development of the whole titanium dioxide industry in the first half of this year, the overall price increase pattern of titanium dioxide products in the international market has not been formed. The overall recovery of the price of titanium dioxide industry is not as natural as people in the industry think. After all, it contains too many complex factors.

Half of 2009 has passed, so what's the price trend of titanium dioxide in the second half of 2009? This is a topic of concern in the industry. Many senior people have expressed their opinions on this. Due to different opinions, a round of fierce ideological scuffle has been triggered. The author's qualification is shallow. It's a bit of a joke to get involved in front of professionals. However, in order to attract jade, I don't hesitate to make a fool of myself here.

In my opinion, the overall price rise of titanium dioxide in the second half of this year is an inevitable trend. Why do you think so? This is because there are obvious signs of recovery in the downstream application fields of titanium dioxide in the first half of this year, and the current recovery momentum is fierce. If there are no special circumstances, there should be great hope for these downstream industries to achieve a comprehensive recovery in the second half of this year. It is not difficult for us to understand that the downstream users such as coatings, plastics and paper industry determine the development trend of the upstream titanium dioxide industry Life or death, the heating up of downstream products can naturally drive the heating up of the sales of upstream titanium dioxide products and the rise of prices However, some people may ask me, why do you think that the downstream of titanium dioxide is warming up? Yes, this is not taken for granted one or two words can explain the problem, empty talk is not convincing, but also makes the industry suspect a groundless saying. For this, the writer is prepared to take the development situation of domestic titanium dioxide industry downstream users last year and the development trend of next year To elaborate and cite.

Coating industry is recovering rapidly

Coatings industry is the largest downstream user of titanium dioxide industry. The development trend of coatings industry has basically become the "barometer" of titanium dioxide market sales, and its every move has touched the sensitive "nerve" of titanium dioxide industry development. Here, the author starts from the development situation of coating industry in recent years. It is understood that by the end of 2008, there were more than 8000 coating production enterprises in China, more than 2000 enterprises above Designated Size, with a production capacity of more than 12 million tons. The products include more than ten series of solvent based, resin based, water-soluble, powder coatings, etc., with an annual output value of more than 130 billion yuan. From 2003 to 2007, the average annual growth rate of China's coating industry exceeded double-digit, and it still maintained double-digit growth in the first half of 2008. However, since the second half of 2008, affected by the financial crisis, the development of China's automobile, shipping, real estate, equipment manufacturing, steel, nonferrous metal smelting, petrochemical, furniture, toys and other industries has slowed down significantly, resulting in the demand for coatings supporting and serving these industries In 2008, the annual growth rate of the coating industry was only 7.8%, the lowest since 2000. In the second half of 2008, although the coatings industry suffered from competition in the financial crisis, the market sales fell sharply, but this does not mean that China's coatings industry has never recovered or will be in a long-term downturn. On the contrary, when we combine the industry characteristics and a series of national policy analysis, it is not difficult to find that the fundamentals of the domestic coatings industry are still good, the market potential is huge, and the development prospect is bright. Moreover, the financial crisis is a rare opportunity for China's coatings industry to reshuffle and implement structural adjustment and strategic transformation. As long as we grasp it well, we will turn the crisis into an opportunity and make the coating industry prosperous After experiencing pains, the material industry has regained its upward momentum and achieved better and faster development. In fact, after the first half of this year's efforts to break through, the coating industry slowly out of the "ghost gate", gradually into the sunshine Avenue. Now, China's coating industry is rapidly recovering and getting better, showing a good momentum of development in the second half of the year. In this trend, the industry has reestablished confidence in the coating industry, and the industry association is optimistic about this. A few days ago, Yue WangKun, Secretary General of China Coatings Industry Association, wrote an article that under the combined effect of favorable factors such as national stimulating domestic demand and relevant industrial revitalization plans, China's coatings industry is going out of the trough and bottoming out, and is expected to return to the rapid growth rate of previous years in the second half of this year. In this regard, the author has the same feeling. Through comprehensive analysis, we should have reason to believe that the recovery of coatings industry in the second half of this year has quite mature conditions

First of all, there is a huge market demand for our products, which is the most significant condition for the coatings industry to turn the corner. Due to the continuous improvement of production technology and the emergence of new functional products, the application field of coatings in China is expanding. At present, domestic coatings have been widely used in construction, real estate, automobile, ship, equipment manufacturing, petrochemical industry, nonferrous metals, steel, urban construction, outdoor landscape, pipeline anti-corrosion, toys and household appliances, electronic information and other fields. At present, with the auto, shipping, petrochemical, equipment, iron and steel, electronic information and other industries revitalization plan being issued and implemented, the recovery of these industries is just around the corner, and economic growth should be achieved in the second half of the year. Once these application fields recover, it will inevitably lead to the increase of demand for coatings in related fields, and quickly promote the recovery of the coating industry.

Secondly, the coating industry has a solid foundation for development, which is the biggest guarantee for the coating industry to have the ability to resist risks. After decades of development, the foundation of China's coating industry has been consolidated, and the strength of leading enterprises has been significantly improved. At present, there are seven or eight enterprises with annual sales revenue of more than 1 billion yuan, and dozens of enterprises with annual sales revenue of more than 100 million yuan. The overall technical level and scale of the industry have been improved, the proportion of high-end products has been increased, the product structure has become more reasonable, and the industry has sufficient potential for development. As long as the time is slightly ripe, the coating industry will be able to break through the encirclement and seek greater development with a strong momentum. The recent rebound of related industries has created important conditions for the rejuvenation of the coating industry. After a long period of energy accumulation and buffering The coatings industry is expected to see a big outbreak of warming economy in the second half of the year.

We should also see that the domestic infrastructure construction has achieved remarkable results since this year, and the infrastructure can also become a new engine for the development of the coating industry. In order to effectively respond to the financial crisis and ensure steady and rapid economic growth, the Party Central Committee and the State Council not only successively formulate and implement industry revitalization plans to support and promote the recovery of industries closely related to the national economy as soon as possible, but also invest a total of 4 trillion yuan to expand domestic demand and ensure growth. According to the information released at present, a considerable part of this fund will be used for infrastructure construction and urbanization construction. Whether it is the construction of new roads and railways, or the construction and improvement of urban infrastructure, or the implementation of housing projects, there will be a huge demand for coatings with different properties, especially the construction of new countryside and urbanization, which will bring huge business opportunities and development space for the coating industry, which will also lay a solid foundation for the subsequent recovery and high-speed development of the coating industry.

In addition, according to an authoritative survey report, the direct impact of the financial crisis on the coating industry is actually not too big, and the industries with high external dependence such as toys, household appliances, textile, equipment manufacturing, plastic processing, etc. are more affected by the financial crisis. At present, the main application fields of coatings in China include automobiles, ships, real estate, architecture, furniture, urban construction, pipeline anti-corrosion, outdoor landscape and guardrail. The coatings consumed in these fields account for 80% of the total consumption of coatings in China. Because their main consumer market is in China, the impact of financial crisis on them is relatively small. With the gradual implementation of macro-control policies, these industries have the conditions to take the lead in recovering in the second half of this year. Once the above industries recover, it will promote the increase of paint demand, speed up development, and further expand the operating rate and output.

It is undeniable that the prospect of China's coatings market is very attractive. Although many domestic enterprises have reduced their investment expansion plans after the outbreak of the financial crisis, international coatings giants such as nippon, Dulux, Eureka, Xuanwei, Benedict Swire, Nart ficott, AkzoNobel and PPG still march into China on a large scale, which not only shows that the international coatings giants are interested in China China's paint market is optimistic, probably because they have been the first to smell the smell of China's paint market recovery, ready to expand ahead of time. We also believe that as long as we strengthen industry guidance, improve relevant standards and regulations, constantly improve innovation awareness and innovation ability, and with the help of the financial crisis and the impact of foreign giants entering China, make great efforts to adjust the product structure, eliminate backward production capacity, and improve the industry access threshold, we can turn harm into benefit, turn crisis into opportunity, and realize the transformation of China's coating industry in the shortest time The bottom rebounds to a steady rising trend. The author believes that according to the development trend and comprehensive conditions of the coating industry, the steady rising situation of China's coating industry can be basically formed in the second half of the year. The recovery and stable development of the coating industry create great feasibility for the upstream titanium dioxide industry to recover in the second half of the year and the price rise of titanium dioxide products.