US Tronox Q4 earnings to fall below guidance on fire, floods

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US-based pigment producer Tronox warned on Monday that its Q4 earnings will fall below its earlier guidance because of a fire at its KZN mineral separation plant in South Africa and floods at two mines in Australia.

In all, Tronox has taken a $30m hit to adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), the company said in a slide presentation.

As a result, Tronox expects fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA to fall below its earlier guidance of $140m-170m.

Volumes for titanium dioxide (TiO2) are tracking on the low end of the company’s earlier guidance, which expected a decline of 25-30% below third quarter levels.

In Australia, floods disrupted Tronox’s Gingko and Atlas Campaspe mines.

Ginkgo is one of two dredge mines in Tronox’s Eastern Operations in the Murray Basin in New South Wales. Tronox expects to mine Ginkgo and the other dredge mine, Snapper, until at least 2023.

The Atlas Campaspe mine will replace Ginkgo and Snapper.

In South Africa, Tronox’s KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Sands operations include the Fairbreeze mine, a concentration plant, a mineral separation plant and two smelting furnaces that produce titanium slag.

Tronox’s slide presentation did not say if the South African and Australian sites have resumed normal operations or when they should do so.

TiO2 is a white pigment used to make paint opaque.

Thumbnail shows white paint, which is made with TiO2. Image by Shutterstock.