Under the influence of the epidemic, the titanium market went up and down

In the first quarter, the domestic economy has withstood a greater test, and the prices of various products in the titanium industry have risen and fallen. Among them, the domestic titanium mine market rose first and then fell. After the Spring Festival, affected by the epidemic, small and medium-sized titanium ore enterprises in Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, suspended production. At the same time, the government's restrictions on personnel and transportation have prevented the local titanium ore mine from circulating, and the raw materials for small and medium-sized titanium ore dressing plants have been tight, which has led to a substantial increase in local titanium ore prices. About a week after the New Year, its price has risen from 1,450 yuan / ton before the holiday to 1,630 yuan / ton. However, after entering mid-March, due to its high prices and weak downstream demand, the mining orders were scarce, and the price also fell, falling back to around 1530 yuan / ton. Imported titanium ore has maintained a slight upward trend. As the prices of foreign mines have always been firm, the prices of some mines have increased, and the cost of domestic logistics has increased, leading to a slight upward price of domestic imported titanium ore.

The high titanium slag market declined slightly in March. As some downstream companies are in a state of suspension or reduction of production, the demand for high titanium slag has decreased, and their prices have also declined. At present, high-titanium slag enterprises are faced with the double pressure of high costs and falling product prices, and high-titanium slag enterprises have increased operating pressure.

After entering March, the sponge titanium market is facing downward pressure. Due to the severe outbreak during the Spring Festival and the beginning of February, most domestic sponge titanium enterprises have not stopped production, resulting in high output. However, downstream enterprises have reduced the purchase of titanium sponge due to epidemic conditions and traffic control. This caused the overall inventory level of sponge titanium to increase, and the capital flow of enterprises gradually tightened. Some companies have sold a small amount of titanium sponge at a price of about 10,000 yuan / ton below the market price in order to ease the funding pressure. But the normal price quickly returned and did not continue to win orders with a low price strategy. However, this short-term and temporary behavior has caused some downstream companies to doubt that the sponge titanium market will be significantly corrected, causing many downstream companies to suspend the purchase of sponge titanium, but to wait and see the market to purchase after the price reduction. In fact, the main domestic sponge titanium enterprises are still encouraging to maintain 75,000 yuan / ton, a few companies are slightly lower, but not the mainstream market. It is undeniable that due to the impact of the epidemic, the change in the supply and demand situation of the domestic sponge titanium market is no longer as hard-to-find as last year. If measures such as production reduction and inventory control are not taken, sponge titanium enterprises will also face greater pressure to reduce prices .

The price of titanium dioxide slightly increased in the first quarter. As of the end of March, the domestic average price of titanium dioxide has increased by about 800 yuan to 1,000 yuan per ton from the end of last year. Affected by the epidemic situation, the domestic titanium dioxide market demand weakened in the first quarter, but the export market has little effect. The export orders signed years ago allowed the titanium dioxide factory to maintain an objective export scale in the first quarter, but with the development of foreign epidemics, The number of new export orders has declined, and in the future, the export market may begin to shrink. Considering that about one-third of China's titanium dioxide production currently depends on the export market, the shrinking export orders will increase the pressure on China's titanium dioxide market. All enterprises should make early plans to cope with the simultaneous shrinkage of both domestic and export markets.

Enterprises should make good plans to deal with future pressure

Judging from the current situation, in the next few months, enterprises in the industry will face pressure from different previous years. This pressure comes from both domestic and international markets, and it is difficult to rely on the power of enterprises to resolve it alone. It is obvious in the international market that with the spread of the epidemic around the world, the case of foreign customers returning orders in March and the sharp reduction of new orders will continue to exist, and the impact will continue to deepen.

According to the information currently available, the personnel control policies of major European and American countries will be implemented at least until the end of April, and from the prevention and control situation of several major Western countries such as the United States, Britain, and France, even by the end of April, the epidemic situation may not be necessarily Able to improve as expected. In addition, after the epidemic situation improves, it will take some time for the enterprises and personnel to return to normal status. In the next 2 months, foreign orders will be in a trough period. Although the domestic epidemic situation has been controlled, most enterprises have begun to resume work, but downstream demand has not improved. Many enterprises have been forced to reduce production or even stop production due to insufficient orders after resumption of work. As far as the titanium industry is concerned, the domestic demand for titanium dioxide and civilian titanium products has not recovered. If the output is not adjusted according to the number of orders, the inventory pressure of enterprises will continue to increase.

In addition, SMEs are generally facing greater financial pressure, and many companies have said that the shortage of funds caused by poor demand is currently the most difficult problem. As the current market is in a downward phase, the risk of lending to SMEs is increased, and it is more likely to become bad debts. Therefore, banks are not motivated to issue loans to SMEs. At present, some enterprises report that the funds are tight and loans are difficult to solve. Although the state has introduced corresponding policies to encourage funds to flow to small and medium-sized enterprises, financial institutions will tend to avoid bad debt risks rather than lending money if they do not introduce stronger policy regulations, resulting in the inability of funds to be injected into small and medium-sized enterprises. If small and medium-sized enterprises solve the capital problem through social financing, the pressure of higher capital costs and the production income that is difficult to guarantee in the current situation will make enterprises bear greater operating pressure. At present, some companies are reducing production and layoffs is a means of coping.

In an online exchange meeting in early March, many people believed that the improvement of the domestic epidemic situation will gradually make the market recover, but it seems that this judgment is too early. The slow recovery of domestic demand and the outbreak of foreign diseases have led to a sluggish external demand for a period of time in the future, so that in the next two or three months, China's titanium enterprises will still face greater pressure. Arranging procurement, production and required personnel according to orders to ensure that the cash flow of the enterprise can safely pass the trough period, or will be the primary consideration of most enterprises.