The high-titanium slag market enters a short period of stability

This month, the northern 90 titanium slag bidding price was 7,600 yuan/ton, an increase of 100 yuan/ton from last month. Since March, the price of 90 titanium slag has risen at a relatively large pace, mostly around 400 yuan/ton. The slowdown in the price increase this time indicates that the high-titanium slag market will enter a period of relatively stable prices in the future.

The reason why the price of high-titanium slag rose sharply in March and April was mainly due to the rapid increase in the price of ilmenite leading to rising costs. Recently, the northern high-titanium slag enterprises have gradually completed the establishment of ilmenite inventory, and the average ilmenite inventory is about 2-3 months. Therefore, the production cost of high-titanium slag in the north will be relatively stable in the future, and a single increase of 400 yuan/ton will temporarily bid farewell to the market. From a long-term trend, with the gradual resumption of production of western titanium dioxide companies, the demand for ilmenite in the West will also gradually increase, and the corresponding supply to the Chinese market will decrease. The recent discovery of a mutated new coronavirus in Vietnam has brought certain uncertainty to the future market trend. The Vietnamese market is my country’s main source of titanium slag raw materials. Although the supply has declined in recent years, it has maintained a relatively stable supply. In contrast, although ilmenite from Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Falkland Islands, and Norway appeared on the market some time ago, they cannot become a stable source. If the spread of the new coronavirus in Vietnam affects its export of ilmenite to my country, it may push up the price of domestic titanium chloride ore in the future. After the current inventory of ilmenite in the titanium slag plant is exhausted, the price of titanium slag may change again due to the cost of ilmenite.