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Sample report for adhesive category. Other reports may vary in format.
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| TZMI TiO2 Review: November 2004
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Single copy - November 2004
TZMI's TiO2 Review covers the TiO2 pigment industry and its major end-use markets including paint and coatings, plastics, paper and ink. The newsletter provides current and timely market commentary and analysis relevant to understanding the growth and economics of the TiO2 pigment industry. Regular pricing trends are presented, including a focus on raw material costs. In this issue: TiO2 Review returns to the Americas with trade statistics for this month concentrating on import and export statistics for the Americas region (including the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil) to July 2004.
Our In Profile series features DuPont Titanium Technologies which dominates production in the Americas region. DuPont is the world's leading producer of TiO2 pigment and has long been regarded as the world's lowest cost producer. The company has made significant improvements to its production capacity since 1999, and has recently stated that it continues to target production improvements to enable it to stay ahead of the market.
Financial results for Q3 2004 for the major pigment companies show that demand has increased substantially for pigment during the first nine months of 2004. Many pigment producers have been estimating that global demand growth for the first nine months was between 6-10% compared to the same period in 2003. TZMI recently estimated that TiO2 pigment demand for 2004 would be 5.8% higher than in 2003, but this now appears on the conservative side especially as industry insiders suggest that the market has remained strong into October and November, and was higher than seasonal expectations. In light of this new information, it is estimated that TiO2 demand for 2004 will be at least 8% higher than in 2003.
Coatings companies also report good sales growth for the first nine months of 2004, but were keen to point out that increased energy and raw material costs are impacting on their businesses.
Pigment prices, in US$ terms, have also started to improve after reaching a low point in most regions in April 2004. A large proportion of this increase continues to be influenced by currency fluctuations, particularly the falling US$. Some European pigment producers report that in euro terms, the final average 2004 price may still be lower than the average 2003 price.
Another round of pigment price increase announcements is also likely to begin, following Millennium Chemicals 18 November announcement that it will be seeking further price increases effective 1 January 2005 or as contracts permit.
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| Newsletter Table of Contents |
- News
- In profile: DuPont titanium technologies
- Meeting report: AsiaCoat 2004
- Pricing trends
- Trade statistics: Americas
- Financial results: TiO2 pigment companies, coatings companies
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