# Titanium dioxide: Production route

Sulphate versus chloride: cheap ore or clean process

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/routes/

What this tab covers How it is made: the main production routes or, for product families, the main product types and technologies, compared on share of supply, inputs per tonne, plant scale, yield, co-products and unit cost.

Two routes make pigment. The sulphate route, older and dominant in China, can use cheap low-grade ilmenite but produces large volumes of iron sulphate and spent acid. The chloride route, used by Chemours, Tronox, Kronos in North America and now LB Group, needs high-grade rutile, slag or synthetic rutile but gives a brighter, more durable rutile pigment with less waste. Upgrading ilmenite to slag or synthetic rutile is an energy-intensive step in between.

#### Routes compared

| Route | Share of supply | Inputs per tonne | Typical scale | Yield | Co-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Sulphate process** | about 60% of world capacity, most of China's 6.0 Mt (indicative) | about 2.4-2.6 t ilmenite (45-50% TiO2) or 1.4-1.6 t slag, and 3.5-4 t H2SO4 per t TiO2 (indicative) | typical 50-200 kt/yr (indicative) | about 85-90% on TiO2 (indicative) | about 3-4 t ferrous sulphate and 6-8 t dilute spent acid per t TiO2, or gypsum after neutralisation (indicative) | acid cost about $350-400/t TiO2 at $100/t acid, about $1,500/t at $400/t (2026) (indicative) |
| **Chloride process** | about 40% of world capacity (indicative) | about 1.1-1.3 t rutile, slag or synthetic rutile; 0.3-0.4 t coke; 0.1-0.2 t make-up chlorine; oxygen (indicative) | 150-600 kt/yr sites (indicative); Greatham UK 150 kt/yr | about 90-95% on TiO2 (indicative) | metal chlorides (iron chloride) for water treatment or disposal (indicative) | higher feedstock cost, lower waste cost; chlorine supply critical (loss of chlorine supply was the 'last straw' for Botlek, Project Blue) |
| **Feedstock upgrading: slag smelting and synthetic rutile** | supplies most chloride feed (indicative) | about 1.6-2 t ilmenite and 2-2.5 MWh electricity per t slag (indicative) | furnaces of 100-300 kt/yr slag (indicative) | not published | pig iron | power and reductant dominated (indicative) |

#### How each route works
**Sulphate process**

Ilmenite or sulphate slag is digested in concentrated sulphuric acid, iron is removed as ferrous sulphate (copperas), and titanyl sulphate is hydrolysed, filtered and calcined at 900-1,000 C to anatase or rutile. China's mid-size plants and European sulphate sites (Kronos, former Venator) use it.

Uses cheap feed and makes anatase; heavy acid and waste burden and exposure to the 2026 sulphur spike.
 Titanium tile; MarketMinute (2026: sulphur up 160% in 18 months); indicative **Chloride process**

High-TiO2 feed is chlorinated with petroleum coke in a fluidised bed at about 1,000 C to TiCl4, which is distilled and oxidised with oxygen to rutile pigment, freeing chlorine to recycle. Chemours, Tronox, Kronos, LB Group and KMML in India use it.

Better pigment and less waste; needs scarce high-grade feed and a chlorine source.
 Project Blue (2025); European Coatings (2026); indicative **Feedstock upgrading: slag smelting and synthetic rutile**

Ilmenite is smelted with anthracite in electric arc furnaces to titanium slag and high-purity pig iron (Rio Tinto, Tronox Namakwa) or reduced in coal-fired kilns and leached to synthetic rutile (Iluka, Tronox in Australia). This feeds chloride and some sulphate plants.

Lets low-grade ilmenite feed chloride plants; high electricity and coal use.
 Titanium tile; Tronox Q3 2025 (Namakwa furnace idled) Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs move with feedstock and energy prices, plant size and region.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/correlation/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/links/index.md)