Development Status and Promotion Measures of Inorganic Pigments in China

China has become an important consumer market for inorganic pigments in the world and a must-have for major pigment manufacturers. It is also an important contributor to the world's low-grade inorganic pigments and primary products. At present, China has begun to vigorously produce high-grade and high-quality inorganic pigments. Products, the industry has broad market prospects and good investment opportunities.

1 China's inorganic pigments are large

Inorganic pigments are the main varieties of pigments, and their output accounts for 88% of the total pigment production in China. According to the statistics of the four industry branches of China Paint Industry Association Titanium Dioxide, Lithopone, Iron Oxide and Chrome Yellow, in 2005, there were about 239 production plants of the above four inorganic pigments, with a total production capacity of 1.893 million tons and a production of 1.5583 million tons. Among them, titanium dioxide accounts for 44%, iron oxide accounts for 40%, lithopone accounts for 14%, and chromium pigments account for 2%. The total import volume of these four inorganic pigments is 420,000 tons, the total export volume is 580,000 tons, and the apparent consumption is 1.39 million tons, accounting for 23% of the world's total consumption of inorganic pigments.

In 2005, the total production capacity of China's titanium dioxide reached 750,000 tons, with a total output of 682,000 tons. The average operating rate of the whole industry was 91%. Among them, the rutile titanium dioxide production was 229,000 tons, accounting for 34%; the anatase titanium dioxide was 371,000 tons, accounting for 54%; the non-pigment grade titanium dioxide was 82,000 tons, accounting for 12%. There are about 70 existing titanium dioxide production enterprises. In 2005, there were 27 enterprises with over 10,000 tons of titanium dioxide production and 17 with over 15,000 tons. The top 18 titanium dioxide producers produced a total of 427,000 tons, accounting for 62.56% of the country's total titanium dioxide production; rutile production 21.2 tons, accounting for 92.68% of the national total, basically using the sulfuric acid process, indicating China's rutile The concentration of titanium dioxide production is relatively high; however, the proportion of production of anatase titanium dioxide powder is between 2% and 7%, which does not form an absolute advantage.

There are about 140 iron oxide pigment production enterprises in China, with a total production capacity of nearly 800,000 tons/year. Among them, there are more than 10 enterprises with production scale of 10,000-50,000 tons/year, accounting for more than 40% of the country's total production capacity. These enterprises have relatively high technical level, product quality can be in line with international standards, and have certain R&D and innovation capabilities, which have become the backbone of the iron oxide industry. In 2005, China's iron oxide production was 622,700 tons, and the average operating rate of the whole industry was 78%. Among them, iron red, iron yellow and iron black accounted for 39%, 38%, and 20%, and other composite iron green, micaceous iron oxide, and transparent. Iron oxide such as iron oxide and magnetic powder accounts for 3%. In recent years, the average annual growth rate of China's iron oxide production is 14.4%, of which iron black and other iron oxides grow faster. In 2005, China's iron oxide sales volume was 570,000 tons, and sales revenue was 2.5 billion yuan.

In 2005, the total production capacity of 13 Lide powder producers in China was 303,000 tons, and the output was about 217,000 tons. The average operating rate of the whole industry was 72%, and the domestic sales of products was 137,000 tons. China is a major producer of Lide Powder in the world, but the operating conditions of the whole industry are not optimistic.

China has a total of 16 chrome pigment production enterprises with a total production capacity of 40,000 tons/year. In 2005, the output was 36,600 tons, of which chrome yellow was 18,153 tons, accounting for 50%; lemon chrome yellow was 76,2 tons, accounting for 21%; molybdenum chrome red 3697 Tons, accounting for 10%; zinc chrome yellow 1348 tons, accounting for 4%; other chromium pigments 5809 tons, accounting for 15%. The average operating rate of the whole industry is 91.5%; the sales volume is 36,400 tons, and the sales income is 550 million yuan.

2 Strong import and export of inorganic pigments

The domestic consumption of lithopone, iron oxide, chrome pigment and titanium dioxide in China accounts for 50%, 30%, 29% and 16% of the world's total consumption, respectively, and the contribution rate to the world consumer market is 100% and 38% respectively. , 32% and 13%. For a long time, the export volume of China's iron oxide, lithopone and chrome pigments is much higher than their respective imports. Only titanium dioxide has always been imported more than exports.

2.1 Titanium dioxide

From the perspective of import and export trade of titanium dioxide, since some products are imported from the past, processing of imported materials and goods in the bonded area, they are still exported to foreign countries. Therefore, it can be said that the import and export trade of titanium dioxide is basically balanced. In 2005, a total of 228,000 tons of titanium dioxide was imported from China, of which about 76,000 tons were imported from the past, import processing trade and warehousing and re-export goods in the bonded area; the export of titanium dioxide was 155,000 tons. In the future, as the production capacity and output of China's titanium dioxide continue to increase and the quality of products is further improved, the amount of titanium dioxide imported by general trade will gradually decrease, and the proportion of titanium dioxide imported from the processing of imported materials will increase. The export volume of titanium dioxide will continue to maintain a strong growth trend, and China will become the world's net exporter of titanium dioxide.

In 2005, the import and export of titanium dioxide was reversed. In 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, the import volume increased by 22.7%, 21.6%, 9.7% and -9.2% respectively, and the export volume increased by 23.0% and 15.6% respectively. 19.2%, 67%. Most of the titanium dioxide imported from China is processed as a semi-finished product. Qu Ying, senior engineer of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute, introduced that titanium dioxide imported from China mainly comes from Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the United States. In 2005, titanium dioxide imported from these regions and countries accounted for 75% of total titanium dioxide imports in China. %; the export target is mainly the United States. In 2005, its exports accounted for 30% of the total export volume, while others were more dispersed, accounting for less than 7%. The customs customs areas for the import of titanium dioxide are mainly Shanghai Customs and Huangpu Customs. The exports are mainly Shanghai Customs, Qingdao Customs and Huangpu Customs.

2.2 Iron oxide

In 2005, the total production of iron oxide in China was 622,700 tons, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%. The import volume was 197,300 tons and the export was 329,400 tons. Due to gaps in variety, grade, price and service, it has to be compensated by a large number of imports, resulting in an increase in imports of iron oxide products in the past two years. Its main trade partners are from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States, Japan, South Korea and other regions and countries. In 2005 alone, China imported iron oxide from these five places, accounting for 84% of the total imports. The export target is mainly the United States. In 2005, exports to the United States accounted for 35% of total exports, followed by Hong Kong, with 14%. Like titanium dioxide, the export of iron oxide industry is also the protagonist of primary products.

At present, the only way out for the iron oxide products produced by most private enterprises in China is export. The domestic market share is almost zero. Once the demand in the international market changes, it will be fatally hit. At present, China's iron oxide industry is large but not strong. The export products are mainly medium and low grade. The quality, variety and grade of the products, especially the high-grade iron oxide varieties are fine, granulated, pasteurized, pure and heat resistant. The gap between sex and other aspects is still large compared with foreign products. At the same time, the current supply of iron oxide products in China is oversupplied, and enterprises compete with each other at a price, and the overall efficiency of the industry is extremely low. Therefore, controlling the total production of iron oxide pigments from the source of the industry has become a top priority for the entire industry.

From January to June 2006, China's iron oxide import and export situation, the export volume increased by 11.9%, the export value increased by 20%; while the import volume decreased by 6 percentage points, and the export value decreased by 4%. From the analysis of the situation of import and export of iron oxide in the first half of 2006, China's iron oxide export volume will be more than 350,000 tons in 2006, and the export value will exceed 200 million US dollars; and imports will be slightly lower than last year. From the perspective of the iron oxide industry, it is expected that the surplus pressure on foreign trade this year will be relatively large.

With the continuous entry of foreign capital and the continuous expansion of the scale of domestic enterprises, there are more and more enterprises with self-support import and export rights. The main exporters of inorganic pigments are mainly large-scale production enterprises or their trading companies. For example, in 2005, there were 22 exporters with a export volume of titanium dioxide of over 2,000 tons, and their exports accounted for 70% of the country's total exports; 16 exporters of lithopones with a volume of more than 500 tons were exported. It accounts for 80% of the total export volume. In addition, 97% of China's inorganic pigment exports adopt general trade methods. In addition to general trade, import processing trade and processing and assembly trade also account for a large proportion, indicating that the production and processing of foreign inorganic pigments are gradually shifting to China. Based on this, it can be predicted that China will become the manufacturing center and net exporter of inorganic pigments in the world.

3 Inorganic pigments have broad prospects

Titanium dioxide in the world's developed countries has entered the mature stage of the product life cycle. It is expected that the average annual growth rate of demand in developed countries will be only 1.4% in the next few years, and the possibility of investment increase is not high. This has made multinational companies pin their hopes for the future development of titanium dioxide in Asia, especially in China, where titanium dioxide production has begun to shift to China. Large-scale chlorinated titanium dioxide projects such as Huntsman in Ningbo, DuPont in Dongying, Shandong, and Australian manufacturers in Yingkou, Liaoning, will be completed and put into operation around 2010.

Lide powder is mainly used in coatings and plastics, accounting for 93% of the total consumption of lithopone. Among them, the coatings sector accounts for 77%, and the plastics sector accounts for about 16%. According to relevant experts, China's coating demand will exceed 4 million tons. The variety structure is roughly 35%~40% for industrial coatings, 45%~50% for architectural coatings, and 10%~15% for special coatings.

China's current powder coating production is second only to the United States, ranking second in the world. In 2002, the total output of powder coatings in the world reached 700,000 tons. China's powder coatings in 2003 was 340,000 tons, with a growth rate of 25%; in 2004, it was 4 million tons, with a growth rate of 20%. The annual consumption of China's plastic masterbatch market is about 120,000 tons. By 2005, the total amount of plastic products in China will exceed 13 million tons, consuming masterbatch (16~18 million tons). The development and production of new masterbatch products has become one of the most active areas in the plastics processing industry, especially for building materials, engineering plastics and masterbatches for plastic films.

China's iron oxide industry has the same prospects as titanium dioxide, and foreign famous iron oxide manufacturers are also optimistic about the Chinese market. Germany's LANXESS, UK's Lockwood and Eremis have established wholly-owned or joint ventures in China's coastal cities such as Shanghai, Zhejiang Fuyang, Jiangsu Changshu, Taicang and Guangdong. These companies have strong profitability and are suitable for bank investment.

4 Promote the development of inorganic pigments in China

(1) Improve the ability of independent research and development

The investment in R&D in our industry is low, generally less than 2% to 5% of sales profits, while developed countries account for about 20% of sales profits. Many of the products we export are not branded or OEM processed, so we lack products with independent intellectual property rights. For example, most of China's iron oxide products are exported as primary products. The average export price is about 450~550 US dollars/ton. In 2005, our export unit price was 556.6 US dollars/ton, but with developed products (after deep processing). The price of 1500~2300 US dollars / ton, our gap is relatively large.

(2) Do a good job in environmental protection

Strictly limit the construction of iron oxide (including iron oxide red, iron oxide yellow, iron oxide black) equipment of 5,000 tons/year and below, reverse the current situation that most private enterprises rely heavily on foreign markets, and control the total production of iron oxide from industrial sources. . Due to the serious environmental pollution, unstable product quality, high production cost and serious waste of resources in the 5,000 tons/year and below, the “Industrial Structure Adjustment Guidance Catalogue” issued by the National Development and Reform Commission has been included in the restricted project. It is understood that for iron oxide enterprises that do not meet the requirements, the local development and reform commission, urban planning and construction departments will no longer go through the formalities of approval, nuclear or record construction and expansion projects.

(3) Implementing brand strategy

Today, when the global economy enters the era of brand management, who owns a well-known brand (trademark) means who can occupy the commanding heights of the market. Implementing the brand-name product strategy, cultivating the industry leader, and comprehensively promoting the economic development of the company are the needs of the long-term development of the company and must be gradually advanced. From the creation of the brand, to the integration of corporate culture, and then to the protection of intellectual property, an interactive relationship of brand strategy is formed to achieve the goal of promoting the development of the industry.