WILMINGTON, DE – The Chemours Co. 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 tons 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.”

With 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.