Global titanium dioxide sales may fall into a trough

Due to the overall economic contraction, titanium dioxide giants expect that global demand for titanium dioxide will decline
sharply in the fourth quarter.

Teno predicts that the demand for titanium dioxide in the fourth quarter will decline by 25%~30%
due to customer destocking.
Among the regions, demand in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific continued to be weak, while North America showed seasonal weakness
.
Chemours lowered its earnings outlook for the second half of the year, with adjusted EBITDA down 15.
4% from the median guidance for the previous quarter, as titanium dioxide demand forecasts continued to decline and affected changes
in the industry as a whole.

John Romano, co-CEO of Teno, said on the company's third-quarter investor call: "The 25%~30% decline in demand is based on the order pattern
we see.
We have a lot of clients who are obviously taking advantage of this situation to negotiate for a better price
.
Roman added that although China's titanium dioxide exports are growing, some customers are replacing higher-priced titanium dioxide with lower-priced Chinese titanium dioxide, but not much
.

Mark Newman, President and CEO of Chemours, said on his third-quarter investor call: "The slowdown in Europe and East Asia has been significant, with energy prices in Europe and the pandemic in East Asia having a strong impact on consumer demand, although consumer activity and end-consumer activity in North America remain strong
.
However, producers do not expect the sharp decline in titanium dioxide demand to last long: "Customer inventory levels remain low compared to previous economic weakness, so we do not believe similar inventory reductions will occur as we enter 2023
.
" We believe that the trough in titanium dioxide sales will occur
in the fourth quarter.
Roman said
.

As energy costs rose in Europe, producers in various regions also experienced an asymmetric slowdown, so production in the fourth quarter will also be reduced
.
Two of Connors' European plants have implemented production cuts; Teno plans to cut capacity at its five European plants, which account for more than
half of its titanium dioxide production capacity.