The North American region suffered from the excess influx of material in the market, especially from the Asian countries, in the first half of the third quarter. The quarter, however, showed signs of significant improvement with a rise in the number of offtakes. Further, the lack of labor in the US challenged the rates of production of titanium dioxide and resulted in the depletion in the level of existing inventories, pushing the titanium dioxide price graph in an upward direction.

Due to its low binder requirement, lithopone provides paints with good flow and application properties. In the plastic processing industry, it is added to plastics to increase the plastic product’s UV tolerance, thus increasing its outdoor life. In the leather industry, it is one of the sulfide-based white pigments. It is also used in the production of linoleum floorings. 

Although barium sulfate is almost completely inert, zinc sulfide degrades upon exposure to UV light, leading to darkening of the pigment. The severity of this UV reaction is dependent on a combination of two factors; how much zinc sulfide makes up the pigments formulation, and its total accumulated UV exposure. Depending on these factors Lithopone B301, Lithopone B311 powder itself may vary in shade over time, ranging from pure white all the way to grey or even black. To suppress this effect, a dopant might be used, like small amount of cobalt salts, which would be added to the formulation. This process creates cobalt-doped zinc sulfide. The cobalt salts help to stabilize zinc sulfide so it will not have as severe a reaction to UV exposure.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a fine white powder or dust that occurs naturally. It was first intentionally produced for use as a white pigment in 1923.