Tansee delays production at ilmenite plant to H2 2O16

National Industrialization Company (Tasnee) said commercial production at its ilmenite processing plant has been delayed to the second half of 2016.

Trial production will also be delayed as the company is taking measures to avoid similar issues in the second furnace, which it hopes to start operating in the third quarter of 2015, the company said in a statement to Tadawul.

The company said it is difficult to assess financial impact of the delays as the titanium industry is going through tough times. Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral.

The plant will have an initial annual capacity of 500,000 tons of titanium slag, with plans to expand to one million tons a year. Pig iron output, a byproduct of the process, will be sold to iron producers, according to data available on Argaam. 

Tasnee and Cristal Global, which is 79 percent-owned by Tasnee, each own a 50 percent stake in the project. 

Ilmenite-Processing Plant