China accounts for more than 45% of the world’s annual consumption of titanium raw materials. Coupled with the previously mentioned figures—where China’s sponge titanium production represents one-third of the global total and its titanium dioxide production accounts for 45% of the global market—it is safe to say that China has now become a vital component of the global titanium industry. The health of China’s titanium market and the pace of development of China’s titanium industry will both have significant impacts on the global titanium sector. In recent years, several new policies and market changes have continuously influenced China’s titanium industry. In response to these influences, Chinese companies have been making ongoing adjustments. Among the factors that have had a major impact on the market in recent years is the pressure exerted by environmental protection policies. Since 2016, the Chinese government has stepped up its efforts in environmental inspections and no longer tolerates enterprises’ illegal emissions. As a result, all companies have been compelled to increase their investments in environmental protection equipment. For some small and medium-sized enterprises, the financial threshold required to upgrade their environmental protection facilities has exceeded their capacity to bear, leading some SMEs to halt production and exit the market altogether. Moreover, some enterprises have limited capabilities for handling waste. To ensure compliance with emission standards, these companies have been forced to reduce their output so that waste generation matches their treatment capacities. In an effort to cut down on waste generation, some companies have also opted for higher-quality raw materials, but this move has driven up their production costs.
　　In the process of rapid development, China’s titanium industry has also gradually revealed several emerging issues. First, domestic titanium ore production has been growing relatively slowly, leading to a steadily increasing reliance on imported ores. China’s self-sufficiency rate for titanium ores reached a peak of 67% in 2014 but has since declined to 58%. Second, while demand for imported titanium ores has been rising, some major source countries have experienced fluctuations, leaving downstream enterprises without a stable supply of raw materials and thus impacting their production. The instability in raw material supply has negatively affected both the product quality and production costs of titanium dioxide manufacturers. Moreover, in recent years, the quality of imported titanium ores has been continuously declining. In particular, the reduction in TiO2 content has not only lowered the production efficiency of titanium dioxide companies but has also led to an increase in waste generation. Since 2016, China’s environmental regulations have become significantly stricter, and the rise in waste volumes has placed tremendous pressure on titanium dioxide producers. In some regions, companies have been forced to reduce or temporarily halt production due to compliance issues related to emissions. Additionally, the decline in TiO2 content is often accompanied by an increase in impurity levels, which in turn affects the quality of downstream products. As a result, downstream enterprises have had to invest more in production processes to mitigate these adverse effects.
　　As China’s demand for titanium raw materials rapidly increases, more and more companies are starting to invest in overseas mines. Currently, Africa is the region where Chinese enterprises have concentrated their investments, while Australia is also emerging as an attractive investment destination. Around Perth, several promising titanium ore projects are already under development. We also hope to see more successful partnerships between Chinese companies and foreign counterparts, leading to mutually beneficial outcomes. In China itself, driven by the massive future demand generated by chlorination-process projects, some companies are developing new technologies that will enable lower-grade titanium ores to meet the requirements for producing titanium dioxide via the chlorination process, thereby enhancing the value of these lower-grade ores. If such technologies can be successfully commercialized, they will help alleviate China’s current raw-material challenges. Up until now, China’s demand for titanium raw materials has primarily relied on sulfate-process titanium ores; however, the growth drivers of the future will shift toward chlorination-process titanium ores and rutile-based materials. The composition of domestically produced Chinese titanium ores does not meet the specifications required for the chlorination process, so China almost entirely depends on imports. This is precisely the fundamental reason behind China’s vigorous efforts to develop new technologies that can improve the suitability of titanium ores for different processing methods. Until these new technologies become available, China’s substantial future demand for chlorination-process raw materials will inevitably drive their prices even higher.