Positive Market31 Oct 2013 12:34
Mr Carstens said the short-term market outlook for titanium dioxide feedstocks continued to show signs of improvement throughout the September quarter, with major pigment producers reporting a significant reduction in final product stocks and announcing pigment price increases.
Continued strength in the US housing market, together with improvement in the Chinese housing sector, were expected to provide support for market conditions to continue improving through the December quarter and into 2014.
“However, ilmenite and rutile stock levels in the supply chain are likely to result in subdued pricing through until at least the end of the first half of 2014,” he commented, adding that zircon demand, from Chinese customers, in particular, increased significantly throughout the first half of 2013.
In contrast, owing to the extent of restocking by zircon users that occurred during the first half of 2013, demand growth was expected to occur at a slower rate through the second half of 2013, as evidenced in the September quarter.
“The timing of a recovery in zircon pricing will be dependent on the pace of stock rebalancing throughout the supply chain, but the long-term outlook for all mineral sands products remains very positive.
“Enquiry levels for Base's products remains strong and, during the September quarter, we finalised three new three-year, take-or-pay offtake agreements with leading Chinese offtakers, securing a large portion of the previously uncontracted sales volumes for ilmenite and zircon,” he noted.