Jul 1 2010
The Tiwest Joint Venture partners Exxaro Resources Limited (Exxaro) and Tronox Incorporated (Tronox) today announced that the joint venture has successfully commissioned the Tiwest Kwinana titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment plant expansion project and is ready to commence production and ramp-up of the expanded plant.
The expansion will increase the plant's production by approximately 40ktpa to a total capacity of approximately 150ktpa TiO2. The expanded plant is expected to ramp-up to planned production levels by mid 2011. With the continued strong demand for pigment from Asia Pacific, the expansion allows Tiwest to further increase its presence in this fast growing market.
Exxaro's chief executive officer, Sipho Nkosi, said he was delighted with this important development which, combined with the strong demand from the Asia Pacific region, could potentially further increase the profitability of Exxaro's Australian mineral sands operations. Mr. Nkosi paid tribute to the efforts of employees and contractors involved in the expansion and noted that the expansion forms part of Exxaro's strategy of downstream value adding in the Group's mineral sands operations.
Tronox's chief executive officer, Dennis Wanlass, congratulated the Kwinana management and employees for an exceptional job in bringing the expansion on line safely and in time to meet the increasing demand of our Asia Pacific and other global customers. This expansion, combined with recent changes to Tronox's production portfolio, positions Tronox as a preferred global supplier of chloride process TiO2.
Source: http://www.exxaro.com/