According to SMM data, China's titanium dioxide output was 330,000 mt in November, down 1.4% MoM but up 7.7% YoY, bringing total output in the first eleven months of 2023 up to 3.505 million mt, down 0.4% YoY.
Some titanium dioxide companies started carrying out scheduled maintenance in a slack season to ease pressure from rapid inventory uptick, lowering titanium dioxide production. With price reduction announced by leading companies, negotiated prices of titanium dioxide moved downwards. Therefore, titanium dioxide prices were stable-to-soft, increasing market price competition. In December, rising inventory of some producers may lead to the next round of titanium dioxide price slip, further squeezing profits of titanium dioxide producers. Meanwhile, new capacity will increase. Under this circumstance, the market competition will be increasingly fierce. Therefore, some titanium dioxide producers may suspend production. SMM estimated that titanium dioxide production will be 320,000 mt in December.
