Cristal declares FM on TiO2 made at Ohio plant

30 September 2010 19:19  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Worldwide titanium dioxide (TiO2) producer Cristal declared force majeure (FM) on Thursday on material produced at its Ashtabula plant in Ohio after an unplanned shutdown at the site.

Market sources just learning of the outage were uncertain how it might affect current supply constraints.

The declaration, effective from 26 September, stemmed from a production issue outside of the company’s control, according to Mark Stoll, vice president for commercial operations at Cristal.

The company said it was still evaluating the duration and impact of the FM, but further details were not yet available.

“Any outage will tighten things up,” a TiO2 buyer said, “but how much of an effect is the question.” The buyer said it was too early to gauge the impact of this outage.

North American supply has been under duress since early in the year due to inventory depletion and capacity reductions in 2009 and unexpected demand so far this year.

June initiatives of 8 cents/lb appeared to be settling at or near levels sought by producers.

A series of year-end price-hike initiatives were still being absorbed.

A series of initiatives have also been announced globally, owing to ongoing short supply.

Current prices for North American TiO2 were $1.22-1.39/tonne (€0.89-1.01/tonne) as assessed by ICIS.

Other North American TiO2 suppliers include DuPont, Kronos, Tronox and Hunstman.

($1 = €0.73)

For more on TiO2, visit ICIS chemical intelligence
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry, go to ICIS connect

By: Larry Terry
1 713 525 2653

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly