Titanium Dioxide Rutile Pigment (Chloride and Sulphate Process)

Chloride and sulphate route rutile by TiO2 content, surface treatment, oil absorption and tint strength

Rutile titanium dioxide is the white pigment in almost every paint, plastic and laminate, and the first question is the process route. Chloride-process plants chlorinate high-grade titanium feedstock and burn the tetrachloride to a very pure, blue-toned rutile; sulphate-process plants digest ilmenite or slag in sulphuric acid and can make both rutile and anatase, typically with a slightly warmer tone. Both are then surface-treated with alumina, silica or zirconia and an organic coating, and the treatment decides the use: heavy silica-alumina treatment for exterior durability and chalk resistance in coatings, light alumina with organic treatment for dispersion in plastics masterbatch and PVC profiles, and specific grades for inks and laminate paper. ISO 591-1 sets minimum TiO2 content by type: R1 97%, R2 90% and R3 80%, the gap being the treatment. The certificate then shows oil absorption, tint reducing power against a reference, colour (L*, b*), pH, water-soluble salts, sieve residue and volatile matter. Pigment grades with at least 80% TiO2 on dry matter are HS 3206.11. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under 3206.11 sum to about USD 9.13 billion across 88 reporters: China USD 4.19 billion and 1.91 million MT (45.9%), the USA USD 1.07 billion and 342,000 MT, Germany USD 756 million and 243,000 MT, Australia USD 522 million and 163,000 MT, Belgium USD 259 million and 84,000 MT, Saudi Arabia USD 210 million and 79,000 MT, Japan USD 179 million and 49,000 MT, the Republic of Korea USD 34 million and Mexico USD 28 million and 19,500 MT. Those are declared values for the code, not offers.

Three rules move this trade now. The EU imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on titanium dioxide from China by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4 of 17 December 2024, at EUR 0.25 to 0.74 per kg depending on the exporter. India imposed anti-dumping duty of USD 460-681 per MT on Chinese titanium dioxide in May 2025, the Calcutta High Court quashed that notification in September 2025, and customs were directed on 17 December 2025 to stop collecting it, with the matter remanded to the DGTR; status is checked at enquiry. And on 1 August 2025 the Court of Justice of the EU dismissed the appeals against the General Court's 2022 annulment, so the EU classification of titanium dioxide in certain powder forms as a suspected inhalation carcinogen is definitively annulled. The buyer is a decorative or industrial paint plant, a powder and coil coatings maker, a masterbatch or PVC compounder, an ink maker or a laminate paper mill. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers rutile titanium dioxide from producers and trader positions in China, the USA, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Korea and Mexico against a certificate of analysis per lot, the technical data sheet, a safety data sheet, a certificate of origin and, for the EU, the REACH registration held by the importer or only representative. It ships in 25 kg paper or PE-lined bags on pallets or 500-1,000 kg jumbo bags in dry containers on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, priced per MT on grade and origin; store dry and sealed, because TiO2 takes up moisture and loses dispersibility. Send the application, the grade type you buy to, the treatment, tonnage and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.