UK-based Tioxide Materials has recommissioned its titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment manufacturing facility at Greatham in Hartlepool, UK, restarting output under a single manufacturing stream.
Tioxide is an entirely owned subsidiary of LB Group, following LB Group’s acquisition of the Greatham site and its related TiO2 pigment assets from Venator Materials UK Ltd. In April 2026.
The agency said its Tioxide and Deltio branded products are now returning to the market, following 4-months of commissioning, testing and maintenance work. A phased ramp-up is under way, with the company focused on complete operational capacity by early 2027. The Greatham facility has a nameplate capacity of a 150,000 tons of TiO2 pigment a year, supported by an R&D team based at a new centre in Wynyard and by commercial and business help functions at the company’s Stockton-on-Tees headquarters.
Ms. Karen Askwith, Managing Director at Tioxide, stated the restart marked an vital moment for the company and for those included in bringing the Greatham facility back into operation after it was idled in the fourth quarter of 2025. She said the site draws on more than 50 years of production heritage and that its return to manufacturing was considerable for the Teesside economy, the UK chemical sector and the broaden TiO2 industry, crediting employees, suppliers and customers for supporting the restart. She added that the company’s focus now turns to scaling up manufacturing to full capacity while ensuring a depenable, sustainable supply of TiO2 pigments to customers.
The Greatham site was the UK’s first commercial chloride-process TiO2 pigment plant, starting manufacturing in October 1971 under original owner British Titan. It later become part of ICI’s Tioxide business, commissioning its proprietary Integrated Chlorination and Oxidation (ICON) technology in November 1990. The facility underwent expansions in 2002 and 2008 under Huntsman’s ownership before the business was divested to form Venator, from which LB Group obtained the site earlier this year to establish the new Tioxide business.
