YUJIANG INFO
2025 China Titanium Dioxide Market Summary
In 2025, the Chinese titanium dioxide (TiO?) market overall showed a trend of supply-demand imbalance, falling prices, and shrinking profits. The key points are summarized as follows:
1. Price Trend
Overall decline: The TiO? market prices continued to fall throughout 2025. The annual average price was CNY 13,677/ton, down CNY 1,819/ton from 2024, a decline of 12%. The price peak occurred in March with a monthly average of CNY 14,750/ton, while the lowest point was in August with a monthly average of CNY 12,758/ton.
Limited impact of price adjustments: In the first half of the year, three planned price increases totaling CNY 1,100/ton were implemented, but the actual realized increase was only CNY 600–700/ton. In the second half, three planned increases of CNY 1,500/ton also failed to fully materialize, reflecting weak market demand and the difficulty for enterprises to effectively pass on price adjustments.
2. Supply and Demand Situation
Supply side: Production capacity increased by 5% compared to 2024, but due to shrinking demand, industry output fell by 1.0% year-on-year, marking the first decline in over 20 years. The effective capacity utilization rate of the entire industry was 82.8%, with a comprehensive capacity utilization rate of 77.3%, highlighting the problem of overcapacity.
Demand side: Both domestic and overseas market demand contracted, and downstream procurement willingness remained low. The ongoing downturn in the domestic real estate market suppressed TiO? demand. On the export side, due to anti-dumping policies, total exports declined 4.46% year-on-year, marking the first decrease since 2016.
3. Costs and Profits
Rising costs: The price of raw material sulfuric acid increased from CNY 465/ton in 2024 to CNY 688/ton in 2025, up 83%. Although titanium ore prices fell by 17%, industry production costs still increased by nearly CNY 400/ton based on comprehensive calculations.
Profit losses: The combination of falling prices and rising costs squeezed profits, and the industry as a whole shifted from profit to loss, with an estimated loss margin of around 6%.
4. Business Operations
Frequent production cuts and suspensions: Due to weak demand and rising costs, some enterprises experienced more unplanned production cuts and suspensions, with longer shutdown periods. In 2025, 9 existing manufacturers ceased production or closed, while 2 new enterprises started operations, slightly increasing industry concentration.
Changes in procurement patterns: Procurement from large downstream enterprises remained relatively stable, while small and medium downstream companies shifted to an “order-driven” procurement model, reducing inventory levels and lowering market activity.
5. Import and Export Situation
Exports: Total exports for the year were 1.8169 million tons, down 4.46% year-on-year, with sulfate-route TiO? exports down 6.77% and chloride-route TiO? exports up 5.95%. The export structure showed a pattern of “lower total volume but improved structure”, with growth in emerging markets.
Imports: Total imports were 74,500 tons, down 18.92% year-on-year, with a significant decline in chloride-route TiO? imports, reflecting increased domestic chloride-route production capacity that filled part of the high-end product gap.
Summary
Overall, in 2025, the Chinese TiO? industry faced multiple pressures including overcapacity, weak demand, and rising costs. Market supply-demand imbalance intensified, and enterprises experienced significant operational pressure. Looking ahead, the industry needs to optimize capacity structure, enhance product value-added, and expand into emerging markets to address these challenges.
