MATERIALS | TITANIUM DIOXIDE T T


investments in mining and upstream manufacturing. Over the next five years, the company says it plans to invest $2bn in a large-scale development project to help transform vanadium-titanium magnetite mining technol- ogy and expand ilmenite mining operations at Panzhihua City, China.


Plastic products Lomon Billion’s TiO2 pigments for plastics applications include Billions BLR-886, which is made using the chloride-process. “BLR-886 is particularly suitable for polyolefin masterbatch, high-tempera- ture extrusion coatings, cast films and engineering plastics. It’s designed to deliver bright, white colour with excellent processability and lacing resistance. It also has excellent dispersion with minimal effect on melt-flow,” said Reid. “We’re currently developing a super-durable chloride-process TiO2


pigment for plastics. We’ve


optimised its alumina and silica coating to provide superior durability, while also delivering excellent optical and dispersion performance for superb visual appearance and formulation efficiency,” she added. Reid says the company has a full product development pipeline with more new chloride- process TiO2


pigments expected within the next


five years. “We’re aiming to make our chloride- process TiO2


pigment the ‘pigment of choice’ for a


wide range of applications worldwide,” she said. International plans


Another Chinese company with its eyes on interna- tional markets is Fujian Kuncai Material Technol- ogy. A relatively young company – it was founded in 1999 – its main activities revolve around special effect pigments such as pearlescents. However, in


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February last year it established two new subsidiaries — Zhengtai and Fushi Material Technology — which it says will enable it “to pursue two fresh strategic directions in its further development. One objective is to extend the product portfolio to include different types of pigment, another is to build and strengthen an integrated supply chain for the existing effect pigment production


environment.” Within this plan, Zhengtai in Fuzhou


tonnes of high-quality TiO2


will eventually produce around 500,000 annually using propri-


etary extraction technology. The first production line, with an annual capacity of around 100,000 tonnes was scheduled to start up in the middle of last year with production aimed at the Asian market. That has been delayed. Fujian Kuncai Material Technology global


marketing director Corinna Ludwig said: “We are planning to produce TiO2


and iron oxide qualities


there for use in plastics, but we need more time for the finalisation of the plant and the implementation of the innovative production process. We are now planning to have everything set up by end of the year. For now, we cannot report on specific quantities or qualities for the plastics industry.”


New additions Also preparing an entry into the TiO2


market is


Australian company TNG. It says it is on-track with its project to produce 100,000 tonnes of TiO2


pigment


by early 2023. “Our first grade will be a highly durable pigment for architectural coatings; it will be followed by a plastics grade, but it is still too early to talk about it,” said Philippe Guillemaille, Paris-based general manager for sales & marketing at TNG.


Left: A plastics pigment grade is on the target


list for TiO2 industry


newcomer TNG


TITANIUM DIOXIDE | MATERIALS


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