Ilmenite · Origin deep dive

Delivered into southern Chinese ports feeding the pigment clusters of Sichuan, Yunnan and coastal titanium-dioxide plants.

Sulphate-route ilmenite typically 47-52% TiO2, the reference feed for China's dominant sulphate-process pigment industry.

Handysize bulk and containerized parcels both feature; domestic Panzhihua supply competes directly with seaborne cargoes.

Chinese sulphate-route TiO2 pigment producers, plus titanium slag smelters and a growing titanium sponge and pigment-export complex.

Follows pigment demand from Chinese coatings and construction, firming into spring painting season and fading with property weakness.

Chinese pigment operating rates, Panzhihua domestic ore supply, environmental inspections and TiO2 export demand set the CIF number.

Rio Tinto's RBM operations at Richards Bay smelt local dune ilmenite, exporting titania slag and pig iron from the port.

Chloride-grade titania slag around 85% TiO2 upgraded from ilmenite, prime feed for chloride-process pigment pigment plants.

Mine-to-smelter-to-berth chain is compact, but Eskom power supply and community disruptions around RBM interrupt smelting campaigns.

Western chloride-route pigment majors like Chemours, Tronox and Venator-successor plants take slag under term arrangements.

Not meaningfully seasonal; output tracks smelter availability, Eskom load curtailment and periodic community-unrest stoppages.

Eskom power curtailment, community violence halting RBM, furnace rebuild schedules and chloride pigment demand cycles drive availability.

Kenmare's Moma dredge mine on Mozambique's Nampula coast loads via a dedicated jetty and transshipment to bulkers offshore.

Sulphate-suited ilmenite around 52-54% TiO2 in several product grades, plus co-product zircon and rutile concentrates.

Self-contained mine-to-jetty chain avoids national rail, but offshore transshipment is weather-exposed during Indian Ocean cyclone events.

Chinese sulphate pigment producers dominate, alongside titanium slag producers and European pigment buyers on term contracts.

Southern Indian Ocean cyclone season through first quarter can suspend transshipment; dredge moves between zones also modulate output.

Cyclone interruptions, dredge transitions to new ore zones, Mozambican fiscal changes and Chinese pigment demand set the discount.

Iluka and Tronox mineral-sands operations ship through Geraldton, Bunbury and Western Australian ports from Perth Basin deposits.

Premium chloride-grade ilmenite around 58-62% TiO2 and upgraded synthetic rutile feed, low in chrome and radionuclides.

Reliable road-rail-port chains and Handysize parcels; some producers upgrade ilmenite domestically rather than export it raw.

Chloride-process pigment plants in the US and Asia, plus Iluka's own synthetic rutile kilns absorbing captive feed.

Largely aseasonal supply; shipments track pigment-plant campaign schedules and producers' inventory management rather than weather.

Mine depletion at aging Perth Basin assets, producer discipline holding back tons, and chloride pigment demand swings drive premia.

Indian sands ship from Tuticorin and Chennai serving Kerala-Tamil Nadu deposits, while Vietnamese cargoes load at Binh Dinh region ports.

Lower-TiO2 sulphate-grade ilmenite, often 48-54%, trading at a discount for grade and impurity penalties against Australian feed.

Containerized and small bulk parcels dominate; Indian state-level mining permissions and Vietnamese export licensing gate actual flow.

Chinese sulphate pigment plants take most cargoes as price-sensitive blending feed against domestic Panzhihua concentrate.

Southwest monsoon hampers Indian beach-sands mining and inland movement mid-year, thinning third-quarter export availability.

Indian atomic-minerals policy and private-mining restrictions, Vietnamese export-quota shifts, and monsoon disruption dominate this discounted origin.