Tiwest TIO2 Expansion Maintains Momentum Even as Acquisition Develops

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Tiwest, a joint venture of bankrupt Tronox Incorporated (OTC:TRXAQ) (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) and Exxaro Resources Limited (OTC:EXXAY), is on schedule with the planned expansion of its titanium dioxide plant in Kwinana, Australia, near Perth. Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) announced last month plans to acquire Tronox's interest in the venture via its wholly owned subsidiary Huntsman Pigments LLC. The planned acquisition also will include all Tronox titanium dioxide operations and electrolytic production plants in The Netherlands and the United States, excluding operations in Savannah, Georgia.

Tiwest began construction for an estimated $90 million expansion of its Australian plant site earlier this year with Proteus Consultants (Perth, Australia) selected for the engineering, procurement and construction of the project. Plans are to increase the plant's production from an estimated 50,000 metric tons per year to an overall capacity of nearly 160,000 metric tons per year, by early next year. Current project schedules call for the construction to be complete during the second quarter of 2010, keeping the project closely in line with original project schedule estimates.

Like so many segments of the chemical processing industry, titanium dioxide producers have been greatly challenged over the last year by the global economic slowdown. TIO2 producers in the U.S. market have witnessed plant closures this year, leaving the only significant North American expansion currently under way at the site of QIT-Fer & Titane Incorporated (Sorel-Tracy, Quebec) in Quebec. For related news, see May 6, 2009, article - North American Pigment Producers Prepare for an Uncolorful Year.

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