Huntsman announces €100/t increase for Europe titanium dioxide

30 September 2009 12:39  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Huntsman's Pigments division on Wednesday announced that it will increase prices of all titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments sold in Europe by €100/tonne or by $150/tonne effective from 1 October or as contracts allow.

Although the reasons behind the increases were unclear, many other producers in Europe said that cost pressure was making production almost unviable. 

“TiO2 has seen a recovery in demand in recent months and TiO2 producers working with narrow margins for the last year have never really reached the region of profitability,” a trader said on Wednesday.

A consumer, which had already accepted a €20/tonne increase in July, said that a total increase of €50/tonne could be possible before the end of the year, but acknowledged that the increase would be largely dependent on demand in October and November.

The price of TiO2 in Europe was assessed at €2.10-2.27/kg FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) last week and had been increasing gently since the second quarter of this year, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

Huntsman’s Pigments division specialises in the manufacture and marketing of TiO2 pigments used in applications from household decorative paints to industrial coatings on ocean liners. It has a combined total manufacturing capacity of approximately 560,000 tonnes/year of TiO2 pigment.

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By: Alexander Nimmo
+44 208 652 3214

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