Four producers, Chemours (Ti-Pure), Tronox, Kronos Worldwide and Venator, supply the titanium dioxide pigment used to whiten and opacify plastics, out of a world pigment-grade capacity of 9.9 million tonnes a year (2025 estimate, US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026). The question a buyer usually needs answered is rarely which company exists: it is which surface-treated grade survives the compounder's melt temperature, and which supplier's paperwork covers the destination market.
Titanium dioxide belongs to one of 43 families of plastic additives tracked on this site, and it is the largest single pigment sold into plastics by tonnage. This directory names the four producers with a page in our source library, compares their surface-treated grades by processing temperature, sets out how to verify a supplier's regulatory paperwork, and shows where the world's manufacturing capacity sits.
Who Manufactures Titanium Dioxide for Plastics?#
Titanium dioxide for plastics comes from a small group of producers, and only four, Chemours, Tronox, Kronos Worldwide and Venator, have a verified profile in our source library. Titanium dioxide sits inside the colorants for plastics family, the group that also covers carbon black and organic pigments, but it is tracked as its own supplier category because of its scale.
Table 1. Titanium dioxide manufacturers for plastics
| Company | Headquarters | Brand recorded | Notable fact | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemours | Wilmington, Delaware | Ti-Pure | Spun off from DuPont, July 2015 | Chemours: Plastic Additives Portfolio |
| Tronox | Stamford, Connecticut | Not recorded | Completed the Cristal titanium dioxide acquisition, 10 April 2019 | Tronox: Plastic Additives Portfolio |
| Kronos Worldwide | Dallas, Texas | Not recorded | Not recorded | Kronos: Plastic Additives Portfolio |
| Venator | Not confirmed | Not recorded | Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, 14 May 2023 | Venator: TiO2 Pigments for Plastics |
An empty or "not recorded" cell means the value is not yet confirmed against a primary source on file, not that it does not exist. Grade and product-line names other than Ti-Pure are not recorded; ask each supplier for its current grade list. Profile pages are in preparation.
How Do the Four Producers Differ?#
The four producers differ mainly in ownership history, scale and brand strategy. Chemours, spun off from DuPont in July 2015, markets its plastics-grade pigment under the Ti-Pure brand and reported USD 5.8 billion in total revenue for 2025, the largest of the four. Tronox completed the acquisition of Cristal's titanium dioxide business on 10 April 2019, adding mining and mineral-sands assets, and reported USD 2.90 billion in revenue for 2025. Kronos Worldwide, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, operates as an independent pigment producer; our source library does not yet record its plastics-specific brand names or revenue. Venator filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 14 May 2023 and continues to supply titanium dioxide pigment through and after the reorganisation; its current headquarters address is not confirmed against a primary source.
Which TiO2 Grade Should You Buy for Your Process?#
Titanium dioxide grades differ mainly in their surface treatment, and the trade-off is direct: the lower the treatment level, the higher the processing temperature the grade tolerates, and the more it promotes pinking in a phenolic-antioxidant system. Ampacet's technical FAQ on yellowing and pinking of white PE and PP states that only a few titanium dioxide grades are suitable for extrusion processes above 274 °C (525 °F), and that highly treated weathering grades are poor candidates for processing above 232 °C (450 °F).
A compounder buying for a food-contact application narrows the choice further, because Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 names three surface-treated forms directly: FCM 805 (treatment below 1 % w/w), FCM 873 (up to 2 % w/w octyltriethoxysilane) and FCM 1077 (up to 25.0 % w/w, including nanoform).
Table 2. Titanium dioxide grade selection
| Grade type | Surface treatment | Processing guidance | Pinking risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-treated (non-durable) rutile | Low treatment level | Only a few grades suitable for extrusion above 274 °C (525 °F) | Higher: promotes pinking with phenolic antioxidants |
| Highly treated weathering grade | High treatment level | Poor candidate for processing above 232 °C (450 °F) | Lower: resists pinking |
| Food-contact surface-treated grades | FCM 805, 873 or 1077 (EU 10/2011) | Matches the Union list entry the finished part must meet | Not stated in the Union list entries |
Source: Ampacet technical FAQ (rows 1-2); Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, Annex I (row 3).
Ask each of the four producers for the treatment level and the maximum recommended melt temperature of a specific grade before specifying it: neither figure is published as a single rule for a whole product line.
How Do You Verify a Titanium Dioxide Supplier?#
A titanium dioxide supplier is verified on three fronts, REACH registration, food-contact listing and hazard classification, and none of the three is a blanket "yes" for the substance as a whole. Titanium dioxide is registered under REACH in the 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 tonne per year band and is not on the SVHC Candidate List or REACH Annex XIV, a status confirmed against the registrant record on REACH and plastic additives rather than taken on a supplier's word.
For EU food-contact plastics, titanium dioxide is authorised as FCM substance 610 under Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 with no specific migration limit, and the three named surface-treated forms above cover the durable and weathering grades. In the United States, 21 CFR 178.3297 lists titanium dioxide as a colorant for polymers with no numeric limit. California's Proposition 65 list carries a separate entry for airborne, unbound titanium dioxide of respirable particle size as a carcinogen, dated 2 September 2011 (OEHHA), a listing that concerns dust exposure during manufacturing, not the pigment bound inside a finished plastic part.
Titanium dioxide carries no harmonised EU hazard classification in force: the Carcinogenicity Category 2 entry in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/217 was annulled by the General Court on 23 November 2022, and the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the remaining appeals on 1 August 2025. Confirm the current SVHC Candidate List status directly, since the list itself is updated twice a year and an older safety data sheet may still cite the annulled classification.
Where Is Titanium Dioxide Manufacturing Capacity Located?#
World titanium dioxide pigment capacity totals 9.9 million tonnes a year, and China holds 6.0 million tonnes of it, the largest concentration in any single country (2025 estimate, USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026). The United States holds 1.36 Mt/yr of capacity and produced an estimated 1.0 Mt in 2025 (940,000 t in 2024), while United Kingdom capacity fell from 315,000 t/yr in 2024 to 165,000 t/yr in 2025.
The US landed, duty-paid import price for titanium dioxide reached USD 3,200 per tonne in 2025, up from USD 3,170 in 2024, and over 2021 to 2024 the country imported most of its supply from Canada (45 %), China (11 %), Germany (7 %) and Mexico (7 %). A full price history and its drivers sit on the titanium dioxide price page.
Chinese capacity is not limited to the four producers profiled above. LB Group (Lomon Billions) and Pangang both hold substantial patent portfolios in titanium dioxide production, though neither yet has a verified profile in this directory. A regional view of Chinese additive manufacturing, plastic additive manufacturers and suppliers in China, is in preparation.
How Do You Request a Quote for Titanium Dioxide?#
A titanium dioxide quote is only comparable across suppliers when the request specifies five things: the surface treatment level, the target processing temperature, the polymer and process, the compliance route and the annual volume.
- Surface treatment level, whether a low-treated (non-durable) grade or a highly treated weathering grade.
- Target processing temperature, stated in both °C and °F, since the treatment level sets the practical ceiling.
- Polymer and process, whether the pigment enters as neat powder, a masterbatch let-down ratio, a PVC phr level or a PET wt% loading.
- Compliance route, whether EU FCM 610, 805, 873 or 1077, US 21 CFR 178.3297, or neither, depending on the destination market.
- Annual volume and destination country, since pricing tiers and the applicable regulatory route both depend on it.
Send one request through the plastic additive supplier finder, which routes a single specification to more than one verified producer or distributor at once.
How Does Titanium Dioxide Sourcing Fit the Wider Pigment Supply Chain?#
Titanium dioxide is the largest single pigment in plastics by tonnage, but it is not the only white pigment, and it competes with other white pigments and mineral extenders for the same role.
Titanium Dioxide vs Other White Pigment Options#
Titanium dioxide has two kinds of named alternatives in a plastics formulation: a direct substitute pigment, and extenders that partially replace it rather than matching its opacity.
- Zinc sulfide (C.I. Pigment White 7), listed as EU food-contact substance FCM 403 and carrying a maximum 10 % limit under US 21 CFR 178.3297, a numeric limit titanium dioxide itself does not carry.
- Calcium carbonate and barium sulfate, used as partial extenders alongside titanium dioxide rather than full substitutes, a pattern visible in the Plastics Pipe Institute's TR-2 worked example for PVC pressure pipe, which carries 5.00 phr calcium carbonate beside 0.50 phr titanium dioxide in the same recipe.
The US Geological Survey separately names ground and precipitated calcium carbonate, kaolin and talc as substitutes for titanium dioxide as a white pigment (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026). A full identity, dosage and mechanism profile of the pigment itself is on titanium dioxide in plastics.
What Does Titanium Dioxide Cost, and Why Does the Price Change?#
Titanium dioxide is one of the few plastic additives with a published price series, because the US Geological Survey tracks it as a mineral commodity rather than leaving it to a paywalled price-reporting agency. The US import price reached USD 3,200 per tonne in 2025, and trade duty adds a further variable: the US HTS classification for titanium dioxide pigment (3206.11.0000, 80 % or more TiO2) carries a 6 % ad valorem duty, and unfinished titanium dioxide (HTS 2823.00.0000) carries 5.5 %, rates a buyer applies on top of a producer's or distributor's quoted price.
Producers of other white and colour pigments, including organic pigments, are covered one level up in the pigment manufacturers and suppliers for plastics directory.