Venator Materials PLC Stock

Venator Materials PLC operates as a global manufacturer and marketer of chemical products.

The company’s products comprise a broad range of innovative chemicals and formulations that bring color and vibrancy to a variety of applications, protect and extend product life, and reduce energy consumption. The company sells its products in more than 109 countries.

The company operates in a variety of end markets, including industrial and architectural paints and coatings, plastics, construction materials, paper, printing inks, pharmaceuticals, food, cosmetics, fibers and films and personal care. Within these end markets, the company’s products serve approximately 2,800 customers globally.

The company manufactures high quality TiO2, functional additives, color pigments and timber treatment products. Its broad product range, coupled with its ability to develop and supply specialized products into technically exacting end-use applications, has positioned it as a leader in the markets it serves. The company is a leader in the specialty and differentiated TiO2 industry segments. It also has complementary functional additives, color pigments and timber treatment businesses. The company has 20 manufacturing facilities operating in nine countries with a total nameplate production capacity of approximately 937,000 metric tons per year. Of these facilities, seven are TiO2 manufacturing facilities and 13 are color pigments, functional additives, and timber treatment manufacturing and processing facilities located in Europe, North America, and APAC (the Asia-Pacific region, including India).

Segments

The company operates through two segments, Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Performance Additives.

Titanium Dioxide

TiO2 is derived from titanium-bearing ores and is a white inert pigment that provides whiteness, opacity and brightness to thousands of everyday items, including coatings, plastics, paper, printing inks, fibers, food and personal care products. The company owns a portfolio of brands, including the TIOXIDE, HOMBITAN, HOMBITEC, UVTITAN and HOMBIKAT ranges, the products for which are produced in its seven manufacturing facilities around the globe. The company services over 1,100 customers in most major industries and geographic regions. Its global manufacturing footprint allows it to service the needs of both local and global customers, including Ampacet group, Avient, PPG, Standridge, Sun Chemicals, Color Tech, AkzoNobel, LyondellBasell, Jotun and Republic Powdered Metals.

The company is one of the four largest global TiO2 producers, with nameplate production capacity of approximately 602,000 metric tons per year. It is able to manufacture a broad range of high quality TiO2 products for functional, differentiated and specialty applications. The company’s specialty and differentiated product grades generally sell at a premium into more specialized applications, such as fibers, catalysts, food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

The company has developed and marketed the co-products from the manufacture of titanium dioxide at its facilities. The company sells approximately 42% of the co-products generated by its TiO2 business.

Performance Additives

Functional Additives: Functional additives are barium and zinc based inorganic chemicals used to make colors more brilliant, coatings shine, plastic more stable and alter the flow properties of paints. The company is a leading global manufacturer of zinc and barium functional additives.

The company’s products are sold under a portfolio of brands that are targeted to the construction sector, such as BLANC FIXE, SACHTOLITH and ECOLIFE focused predominantly on the coatings and plastics sectors.

Color Pigments: The company produces colored inorganic pigments for the construction, coatings, plastics and specialty markets. It also sells complex inorganic colored pigments, carbon black and metal carboxylate driers. The company produces a wide range of color pigments and are the world’s second largest manufacturer of technical grade ultramarine blue pigments, which have a unique blue shade and are widely used to correct colors, giving them a desirable clean, blue undertone. These attributes have resulted in ultramarine blue being used world-wide for polymeric applications, such as construction plastics, food packaging, automotive polymers, consumer plastics, as well as coatings and cosmetics.

The company’s products are sold under a portfolio of brands that are targeted to the construction sector, such as DAVIS COLORS. Holliday Pigments, COPPERAS RED and MAPICO focused predominantly on the coatings and plastics sectors.

The company’s products are also used by manufacturers of colorants, rubber, paper, cosmetics, pet food, digital ink, toner and other industrial uses delivering benefits in other applications, such as corrosion protection and catalysis.

Made from clay, the company’s ultramarine blue pigments are non-toxic, weather resistant and thermally stable. Ultramarine blue pigments are used world-wide for food contact applications and are used extensively in plastics and the paint industry. The company’s ultramarine pigments are permitted for unrestricted use in certain cosmetics applications. The company focuses on supplying its customers with technical grade ultramarine blues and violets to high specification markets, such as the cosmetics industry.

Timber Treatment: The company manufactures wood protection chemicals used primarily in residential, commercial and industrial applications to prolong the service life of wood through protection from decay and fungal or insect attack. Wood that has been treated with the company’s products is sold to consumers through major branded retail outlets. The company sells its industrial products to customers who use its products for treating wood in industrial applications.

The company manufactures its timber treatment chemicals in the U.S. and market its products primarily in North America through Viance, LLC (Viance), the company’s 50%-owned joint venture with Lanxess. The company’s residential construction products, such as ECOLIFE, ACQ, and Copper Azole are sold for use in decking, fencing and other residential outdoor wood structures. The company’s industrial construction products, such as ULTRAPOLE Chromated Copper Arsenate are sold for use in telephone poles and salt water piers and pilings.

Disposition

On April 3, 2023, the company had completed the sale of its Iron Oxide business to Cathay Industries.

Customers, Sales, Marketing and Distribution

Titanium Dioxide

The company serves over 1,100 customers through its Titanium Dioxide segment. These customers produce paints and coatings, plastics, paper, printing inks, fibers and films, pharmaceuticals, food and cosmetics. Approximately 87% of the company’s TiO2 sales are made directly to customers through its own global sales and technical services network. This network enables the company to work directly with its customers and develop a deep understanding of its customers’ needs resulting in valuable relationships. The remaining 13% of sales are made through the company’s distribution network. The company maximizes the reach of its distribution network by utilizing specialty distributors in selected markets.

Larger customers are typically served via the company’s own sales network and these customers often have annual volume targets with associated pricing mechanisms. Smaller customers are served through a combination of the company’s global sales teams and a distribution network, and the route to market decision is often dependent upon customer size and end-use application.

Performance Additives

The company serves over 1,700 customers through its Performance Additives segment. These customers produce materials for the construction industry, as well as coatings, plastics, pharmaceutical, personal care and catalyst applications.

Performance Additives segment sales are made directly to customers through the company’s own global sales and technical services network, in addition to utilizing distributors. The company’s ultramarine sales are predominantly through distributors. The company sells its timber treatment products to consumers and industrial customers via the sales force of its joint venture, Viance, LLC (Viance).

Joint Ventures

Louisiana Pigment Company L.P. (LPC) is the company’s 50%-owned joint venture with Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (Kronos).

Viance is the company’s 50%-owned joint venture with Lanxess. Viance markets its timber treatment products.

Pacific Iron Products Sdn Bhd (PIP) is the company’s 50%-owned joint venture with Coogee Chemicals Pty. Ltd. (Coogee Chemicals) that manufactures products for the company.

Intellectual Property

The company has obtained patents and trademark registrations covering relevant jurisdictions for key product platforms related to functional pigments and additives and active materials technologies. These platforms are used for solar reflection (ALTIRIS pigments), to keep colored surfaces cooler when they are exposed to the sun, enhance air purification, improve catalytic processes (HOMBIKAT) or lead to products that help manage heat in plastic applications or lead to metal deactivation in cables (SACHTOLITH).

The company owns a total of approximately 660 issued patents and pending patent applications. Its patent portfolio includes approximately 40 issued U.S. patents, approximately 533 patents issued in countries outside the U.S. and 117 pending patent applications, worldwide.

Certain of the company’s products are well-known brand names and it has approximately 810 global trademark registrations and applications. Some of these registrations and applications include filings under the Madrid system for the international registration of marks and may confer rights in multiple countries. In its Titanium Dioxide segment, the company considers its TIOXIDE, HOMBITAN, HOMBITEC, UVTITAN, HOMBIKAT, DELTIO and ALTIRIS trademarks to be valuable assets. In its Performance Additives segment, the company considers BLANC FIXE, SACHTOLITH and ECOLIFE trademarks to be valuable assets.

Research and Development

The company’s research and development costs were $12 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Environmental, Health and Safety Matters

The company is subject to frequent environmental inspections and monitoring and occasional investigations by governmental enforcement authorities. In the U.S., these laws include the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Air Act (the CAA), the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), as well as the state counterparts of these statutes.

The company is subject to a wide array of laws governing chemicals, including the regulation of chemical substances and inventories under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the U.S., and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), and the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (CLP) regulation in Europe.

Competition

Titanium Dioxide

The company’s key competitors are The Chemours Company; Tronox Holdings plc (Tronox); Kronos; and LB Group. The company’s primary competitors within specialty and differentiated TiO2 applications include Fuji Titanium Industry, Kronos, Huierzin, ISK, Sakai Chemical Industry Co., Tayca Corporation and Precheza a.s.

Performance Additives

The company’s primary competitors within color pigments include Lanxess AG; Cathay Pigments Group; Ferro Corporation; and Shanghai Yipin Pigments Co., Ltd. The company’s primary competitors in the timber treatment market are Arxada and Koppers Inc.

History

Venator Materials PLC was founded in 2017. The company was incorporated in 2017.