China has witnessed a surge of TiO2 export volume in January 2017, mainly due to the low price compared to the world market and the depreciation of the RMB. The import volume, on the other hand, declined, which can be explained by the Spring Festival in China and a high inventory of China’s suppliers.
Source: China Customs
The first month of 2017 has witnessed a surge in China’s TiO2 export volume, while the export price decreased by about 0.31% compared to the previous month. The total export volume has been 62,830 tonnes, while the price dropped down to USD1,952 per tonne, according to Tranalysis.
The main reason for the export boost in January can be found in the relatively low titanium dioxide price from China compared to the world market for TiO2, where the price is rising. The depreciation of the Chinese currency RMB also plays a role in this trend.
From the total 62,830 tonnes export volume, 34,047 tonnes alone has been exported by the five biggest exporters in China. That is more than half of the total volume. The leading exporter hereby was again Sichuan Lomon Titanium, the company that is leading China’s TiO2 industry for a long time. The largest amount of exports was shipped to the Asia-Pacific region. Following was the Middle East, Europe, and South America. According to Tranalysis, especially the export volume to Europe went up by 131.21%.
Looking at the import trend of TiO2 to China, the volume fell slightly in January 2017, while the import price dropped even more. Hence, the import volume reached 18,233 tonnes, which represents a decline of more than 16%. The average import price was USD2,515 per tonne, a general higher price compared to the export price in China.
Tranalysis explains the drop in imports with the occurrence of the Chinese Spring Festival. Furthermore, in December 2016 was the highest import volume till April, which left many suppliers sufficient inventory with no need to purchase a lot more in January.
The top 20 importing companies of TiO2 to China have been accounting for over 80% of the total amount. The leading exporter hereby was Chemrous Chemical from Shanghai with an import volume of 4,344 tonnes alone. The value of imports reached USD10.138 million. Other companies with a significant share of imports were Kindecor and Shanghai Sanchang Import and Export with 3,800 tonnes and 1,763 tonnes, respectively. The top country of import origins has been Taiwan, followed by Australia, Germany, the USA, and Mexico.
The export of overseas companies to China is very concentrated. As a fact, the largest three exporters accounted for more than 60.3% of volume. Of those, Chemours is the largest exporter with a volume of 10,215 tonnes in January 2017. Other huge exporters have been Cristal, Tronox, and ISK, according to Tranalysis’ research. The import price of TiO2 from Chemours has declined in January by 3.47%. The price of Cristal even decreased by 4.52% month on month. Tronox has witnessed the biggest price drop of all big exporters with a decline by 13.56%. ISK, the company with the highest exporting price among those companies, even increased prices in January again by 5.65% to USD3,121 per tonne.
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