The Chemours Company has begun the commercial startup of its new titanium dioxide (TiO2) line at its Altamira plant in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. 

Chemours reached mechanical completion of the line in December 2015. The company has now begun to run the new line using the Chemours chloride process, producing Ti-Pure™ TiO2 pigment for customer qualification.

Production on the new line is expected to ramp up steadily with full nameplate capacity of 200,000 metric tonnes per year being achieved over a few years. As this happens, Chemours will balance utilization across its other facilities to align with customers’ needs.

“The commercial startup of Altamira will help us achieve the near-term cost reduction objectives and future growth in our five-point transformation plan,” said Mark Vergnano, president and CEO. “We will leverage the facility’s low-cost capability to supply the high quality products that our customers expect from our global manufacturing network.”

Chemours has the lowest sustainable TiO2 production cost in the world due to facility scale, proprietary process and know-how, and an ability to use a wide variety of ore feedstocks. The company anticipates that it will reduce overall costs of TiO2 manufacturing by about $20 million annually. In addition to the Altamira plant, Chemours also manufactures TiO2 products at sites in Mississippi, Tennessee and Taiwan.

“Our investment at Altamira tells our valued customers around the world that Chemours is committed to being a long-term, reliable supplier of high quality titanium dioxide,” said Bryan Snell, president of Titanium Technologies. “By enhancing our low-cost position, the new line at Altamira positions us to continue providing our high value-in-use products to our global customer base far into the future.”