Sep 26 2007
Tronox Incorporated has concluded the evaluation of strategic options for its Uerdingen, Germany, titanium dioxide (TiO2) plant and has made the decision to retain this asset in its portfolio because the business and financial market assessments did not accurately reflect the long-term value of this world-class sulfate-process TiO2 facility.
“With the strong European economic conditions, our recent investments in the facility and our strategic plans for the future, we believe the Uerdingen asset will provide better long-term value for our shareholders as part of our portfolio,” said Tom Adams, Tronox chairman and chief executive officer. “To maximize its value, we will continue to focus on our strategy to drive costs out of the business through improvements in our operations and processes.”
“In addition, we will increase our participation in specialty product markets to improve margins, while maintaining our core coatings and plastics business,” said Adams. “We will capitalize on our strengths, core competencies and employees’ expertise to ensure the Uerdingen facility contributes to Tronox’s efforts to increase cash flow, improve profitability and enhance global competitiveness.”
The Uerdingen plant, which has a capacity of 107,000 tonnes, produces high-quality, high-purity sulfate process pigment preferred by many specialty markets.