UK Clears China's Longbai's Acquisition of Venator’s Titanium Dioxide Plant, EU Expresses 'Extreme Disappointment'

According to a report by the Financial Times, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently approved Chinese chemical company Longbai Group's acquisition of Venator Materials' UK titanium dioxide plant, which has entered bankruptcy proceedings—drawing criticism from European and American manufacturer alliances.

The report notes that the Venator plant is located in Teesside, northeast England, and has produced titanium dioxide for over fifty years. It entered bankruptcy proceedings last October, putting 270 employees at risk of unemployment. Titanium dioxide, an industrial whitening agent, is widely used in paints and plastics, as well as in strategic defense and green energy supply chains.

After a three-month investigation, the CMA approved Longbai’s $70 million purchase of the Venator plant on the 23rd of this month. According to reports, Longbai is the world’s largest producer of titanium dioxide.

The "European Special Task Force for Titanium Dioxide," representing nearly 90% of EU production capacity, said the CMA’s decision was “extremely disappointing.”

Venator’s US parent company, Tronox, announced in January this year that it would close its Chinese factory.

Industry experts point out that the newly acquired British plant will sell titanium dioxide products to the European market at prices significantly below the actual production cost in the UK; while titanium dioxide can be produced in China at approximately $1,500 per ton, the cost in the UK reaches $2,800 per ton.

Since 2010, China has become a net exporter of titanium dioxide, with exports surging from 48,000 tons in that year to over 1.7 million tons last year.

The report cited industry analyst Reg Adams, who noted that over the past fifteen years, nearly 1.3 million tons of production capacity have been shut down across Asia, Europe, and the United States combined.

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1863716423224515/

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