Tioxide restarts titanium dioxide pigment plant in UK
Heralding new era for historic Greatham site
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Tioxide Materials Limited (Tioxide) announced the successful recommissioning of the titanium dioxide (TiO₂) pigment production facility at Greatham in Hartlepool, marking a major milestone following LB Group’s acquisition of the site and its associated TiO₂ pigment assets earlier this year.
Production has now commenced at the site, with single-stream operation underway and TIOXIDE® and DELTIO® products beginning to return to the market. The achievement represents an important step towards the new owners restoring the facility’s full manufacturing capability and enhancing long-term security of supply of TiO₂ pigments for customers worldwide.
The restart follows four months of careful commissioning, testing and maintenance work with Tioxide’s engineering, operations and technical teams working closely together to safely prepare the facility for commercial production. A phased ramp-up is now underway, with a clear roadmap to increase production capability and achieve full operational capacity by early 2027.
Karen Askwith, Managing Director at Tioxide, said: “Today is a landmark moment for Tioxide and a proud achievement for everyone involved in bringing the Greatham facility back into operation after it was idled in Q4 2025.
“Drawing on more than 50 years of manufacturing heritage, the site at Greatham has a proud history of producing high-quality TiO₂ pigments. This is an important step forward for our new business – but also for the local economy on Teesside, for the UK chemical sector and the wider TiO₂ industry. The successful commencement showcases the skill, dedication and expertise of our employees, whose commitment has been instrumental in safely commissioning the site and establishing production, and I’d like to thank everyone on our team for their outstanding efforts.
“I’d also like to acknowledge our suppliers for their support and our customers for their confidence throughout this process. With production now underway, our focus turns to delivering our ramp-up programme, stepping the site up to full manufacturing operations – safely and successfully – and ensuring our customers have access to a reliable and sustainable source of TiO₂ pigments for many years to come.”
Tioxide’s Greatham facility has a total nameplate capacity of 150,000 tonnes of TiO₂ pigment per annum, with production supported by a team of scientists at the company’s new research and development centre in Wynyard and commercial and business support teams based at its headquarters in Stockton-on-Tees.
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