Titanium dioxide prices rise for three consecutive months, with soaring costs putting pressure on business operations

The “butterfly effect” caused by shipping uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz is rapidly sweeping across the global chemical market. Driven by surging costs, the long-dormant domestic titanium dioxide market has seen a wave of price increases since March.

Securities Times reporter learned from industry leading companies and relevant supply-chain sources that, due to continually rising pressure from sulfur and sulfuric acid costs, in just March alone, domestic titanium dioxide prices recorded a three-day consecutive increase, with a cumulative rise of around 2,000 yuan per ton.

Analysts noted that although the recent titanium dioxide price increases have already been partially reflected, under the impact of high costs, industry companies still face significant operating pressure, and the short-term market uptrend may continue.

Data source: Shanghai Metals Market (SMM)

Three consecutive price increases for titanium dioxide

Rongbai Group recently issued an announcement stating that, starting March 24, 2026, it will adjust the prices of all Xuelian-brand titanium dioxide products. In the domestic market, prices will be raised by 1,000 yuan per ton; in the international market, by 150 US dollars per ton.

“A company recently did raise prices, mainly because the prices of production raw materials sulfuric acid and sulfur have increased.” A spokesperson from Rongbai Group told Securities Times reporter. “Recently, the industry’s prices have shown an overall upward trend, rising about 2,000 yuan per ton compared with earlier lows.”

SMM data shows that on March 24, domestic titanium dioxide leading plants once again raised their quotations by 1,000 yuan per ton. In March alone, the cumulative increase in quotations reached 2,000 yuan per ton, ushering in a rare three-consecutive-in-month price-increase trend. Data from Lonzhu Information (Longzhong) also indicates that as of March 30, the mainstream price of rutile-type titanium dioxide had increased by 1,125 yuan per ton compared with the beginning of the month, a rise of 8.38%.

“Cases of three consecutive rounds of increases for titanium dioxide prices in the short term are rare—over the past nearly 20 years. As of March 27, the third round of the price-up wave had already led more than 20 producers in China, including Ananda, Haifengxin, and Taihai, to issue price-increase letters one after another.” Yan Tai Titanium industry analyst Yang Xun admitted that, in recent times, price fluctuations in the titanium dioxide market have been relatively intense, with the frequency and magnitude of price hikes beyond market expectations.

“Upstream prices have indeed gone up, but for our company, the actually realized increase is not that high.” A listed paper-industry company source who declined to be named told the reporter that since the company has a relatively large demand for titanium dioxide, it has some pricing leverage with the upstream. As a result, the impact of the cost increases is not obvious at present. However, he also acknowledged that small- and medium-sized paper companies’ ability to pass on premiums is relatively weaker, and the recent concentrated price announcements by titanium dioxide companies will indeed bring pressure to the cost side.

Raw material costs surge

During the interviews, industry insiders largely attributed the consecutive titanium dioxide price increases this time to cost pressure.

“Generally, producing 1 ton of titanium dioxide requires 1.3 tons of sulfur or 4.2 tons of sulfuric acid. Since the fourth quarter of last year, the prices of sulfur and sulfuric acid have already entered an upward cycle, and March saw an even sharper surge,” said Yang Xun. “Although recent titanium dioxide price increases have been helped by the increased number of orders on hand from the supply side, the more significant factor has been the sustained firmness in the prices of the production raw materials sulfur and sulfuric acid.”

SMM data shows that as of March 30, the domestic 98% concentrated sulfuric acid average price was 1,501.25 yuan per ton, up 31.33% from the beginning of March, and up 41.92% from the end of 2025. As of March 27, sulfur prices reached 5,417.50 yuan per ton, up 1,771.25 yuan per ton from the start of the year, a rise of 48.58%.

A sulfuric acid production industry source told Securities Times reporter that, amid disruptions from geopolitical factors, sulfuric acid prices have shown a “geopolitical premium,” and in the short term prices may remain at relatively high levels.

“The main reason for this round of price increases is that, in recent years, the international demand growth rate has been higher than the supply growth rate. The situation of supply tightness has gradually become evident since the second half of 2024, and that has driven a relatively rapid rise in prices in 2025. Since 2026, the situation in the Middle East has further intensified the supply pressure that was already tight. Meanwhile, China’s sulfur import dependency is about 50%, and the Middle East is the main trading partner, accounting for more than 55% of China’s total sulfur imports in 2025.” Liu Zhenpeng, a sulfur analyst at SMM, said.

As a direct downstream product, sulfuric acid is influenced by wide fluctuations in the price of sulfur raw material, and cost-side pressure has also continued to mount.

Companies find it hard to talk about profits

SMM data shows that between 2024 and 2026, the profitability of titanium dioxide companies deteriorated further. After entering the third quarter of 2025, titanium dioxide companies had successively moved into a loss-making state. In the fourth quarter, losses worsened, with losses per ton around 1,800 yuan. In the first quarter of 2026 (as of March 25), losses across the industry continued to deepen, and losses per ton rose to 2,300 yuan per ton.

“The reason for the continued expansion of losses in the current market lies in the fact that the rate at which raw material prices rise is faster than the rate at which titanium dioxide prices increase. As of March 25, the 3-month average production cost of titanium dioxide rose by 4% compared with February, while the product market price in the same period increased by only 3%. The expansion of losses in March versus February was nearly 1 percentage point,” said Sun Shanshan, an analyst at SMM for titanium dioxide.

After the three consecutive increases, is there still upside space for titanium dioxide market prices?

“Although the firm prices of titanium dioxide currently make market users exhausted by chasing prices, in the current trading and supply-demand pattern, the supply side is still slightly stronger. The current orders may have some degree of demand pre-consumption for the outlook. However, based on titanium dioxide companies’ own orders on hand, raw material costs, and other factors, market prices from April to May are unlikely to loosen. The price of rutile-type titanium dioxide produced by the sulfuric acid process could potentially reach 18,000 yuan per ton.” Yang Xun believes that in April, the titanium dioxide market price is basically set to see an upward push, with supply-side tightness continuing. Looking ahead, key factors to watch include the costs of sulfur and sulfuric acid raw materials and the status of overseas trade order intake.

Lu Jiaxin, an analyst at Lonzhu Information (Longzhong) on titanium dioxide, also believes that this round of the titanium dioxide industry’s price-hike wave may continue until late April, and the price of rutile-type titanium dioxide may reach 15,000 yuan per ton to 16,000 yuan per ton.

“The reason for current titanium dioxide price increases is that rising raw material prices lead to higher costs. Because the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand for titanium dioxide is prominent, the basic face of supply and demand provides limited support for price increases.” Sun Shanshan reminded that many titanium dioxide companies are currently experiencing low inventory. In fact, a large amount of inventory has shifted from the production side to downstream factories and traders, rather than being truly digested by end-market demand. As inventories continue to accumulate across each link in the industrial chain, the risk of a major drop in market prices keeps increasing. Once raw material prices enter a downward channel, titanium dioxide market prices will also fall at an accelerated pace.