Chlorine supply and logistics affect Tronox production

Tronox co-CEOs John Romano and Jean François Turgeon told analysts on the Tronox second quarter earnings conference call that in the second quarter, Tronox encountered chlorine availability restrictions and these issues are expected to also affect the company’s current third quarter titanium White powder business.

In addition to the chlorine issue, continued global supply and logistics restrictions that limit the availability of ships and containers will affect Tronox’s TiO2 business in the third quarter. The company’s executives said that due to tight logistics, sales in the third quarter are currently expected to drop by 5-10% from the record level in the second quarter. They said that although Tronox had expected improvements earlier in 2021, it now believes that the problem will continue until the end of the year.
In addition, in South Africa, the recent social unrest and riots may cause port disruptions, thereby delaying the transportation of Tronox’s raw materials.
At the same time, Tronox said that demand for its titanium dioxide remains strong. These executives said that despite the slowdown in demand growth in China, “we have not seen a weakening in demand at all.”