2026 Titanium Dioxide Plant Status: Profit Dilemma Amid Price Hikes

In 2026, global titanium dioxide giants have rolled out multiple price hikes. Chemours raised prices three times, with a USD 250/ton increase for the Asia-Pacific region. Domestic leader Lomon Billions also completed four rounds of price adjustments. However, Q1 financial results show most manufacturers fell into a dilemma: price and revenue growth failed to boost profits, posing severe operational challenges to the whole industry.

I. Operational Performance Analysis

Eight major listed domestic titanium dioxide enterprises achieved a total net profit of merely RMB 470 million in Q1 2026, a year-on-year drop of 46.30%. Specifically, Lomon Billions’ revenue edged up 1.42% to RMB 7.154 billion, yet its net profit plunged 72.74% to RMB 187 million. Taineng Chemical’s revenue rose 6.99% with a 22.53% profit decline. Huiyun Titanium and Jinpu Titanium registered losses of RMB 7.6 million and RMB 28.41 million respectively, and the latter’s loss expanded by 84.66%. The per-ton loss of rutile titanium dioxide also widened from RMB 810 in Q1 2025 to RMB 2,660 in Q1 2026.

II. Cost Pressure from Sulphur & Sulphuric Acid

Soaring raw material costs are the main cause of profit decline. The average price of 98% sulphuric acid surged 148% year-on-year and 40% month-on-month, while sulphur prices increased over 51%. Geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East tightened global sulphur supply and pushed up domestic sulphuric acid prices. As an acid-intensive industry, titanium dioxide producers saw raw material cost hikes far outpace product price gains, which wiped out all profit growth from price increases. Besides, the price transmission lag and deliveries of previously low-priced orders further undermined quarterly profits.

III. Overcapacity Caused by Trade Barriers

Anti-dumping investigations launched by the EU, the US, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and other countries have greatly restricted China’s titanium dioxide exports. Massive overseas-oriented capacities flooded the saturated domestic market with low capacity utilization. To seize market shares, enterprises launched vicious price competition, forming a vicious cycle of rising prices yet falling profits. Small and medium-sized plants without upstream titanium ore and pyrite resources struggled to cope with risks and faced severe operational difficulties.

IV. Industry Outlook

The current price hikes are cost-driven instead of demand-driven. In the short term, high raw material costs, trade barriers and internal industrial competition will continue to squeeze corporate profits. In the long run, the industry will witness accelerated differentiation. Leading players will build overseas factories to bypass trade barriers, while numerous small and medium-sized manufacturers will be phased out amid industrial reshuffling.