TiO2 facing new round of price-hike initiatives

06 August 2008 21:02  [Source: ICIS news]

By Larry Terry

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HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Price-hike initiatives for titanium dioxide (TiO2) continued to proliferate on Wednesday in several regions as sellers heightened their efforts to recoup margins lost to input and freight costs.

The actions appeared to support buyer sentiment that sellers' failure to achieve more price gains this year has put suppliers in a “push-come-to-shove” frame of mind.

US pigment maker Tronox announced on Wednesday that it plans to implement a $150/tonne (€98/tonne) price increase effective 15 August for all grades of its titanium dioxide (TiO2) sold in Mexico and Latin America.

The action adds to previous price hikes and surcharges announced by the company this year in its continued effort to offset inordinately high energy, transportation and raw materials costs, Tronox said in a statement.

Other producers who recently announced price hikes or surcharges cited the same rationale.

DuPont, which last week announced a similar 1 August price hike for its TiO2 in Latin America and an energy surcharge for its TiO2 sold into the North American paper and board market, announced another price increase on Wednesday.

Effective 15 August, DuPont said it will increase by €50/tonne ($77/tonne) all grades of its TiO2 sold in Western and Central Europe, Turkey, Greece and North Africa.

On Wednesday, Kronos announced a $150/tonne increase effective 15 August for all of its TiO2 grades sold in Latin America, and Cristal Global announced new surcharges of 6-14 cents/lb on various grades of its TiO2 sold into the North American paper market.

Also, Cristal Global announced early this week a $250/tonne price increase effective 1 September for its TiO2 sold in Latin America.

Contract prices for North American TiO2 are 108-111 cents/lb, according to data from global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

Other US TiO2 producers include Huntsman and Tronox.

($1 = €0.65)

For more on TiO2, visit ICIS chemical intelligence
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By: Larry Terry
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