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EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DD) intends to spend approximately $500 million to increase titanium dioxide production by 350,000 metric tons over the next three years

The expansion includes new production facilities at the company's Altamira, Mexico site as well as additional investments for improving the productivity at its other titanium dioxide sites around the world.

The new line at the Altamira site is scheduled for completion by year-end 2014 and would provide about 200,000 metric tons of new capacity per year.

Titanium dioxide is a white pigment widely used in the coatings, paper, plastics and laminates industries.

Earlier, DuPont announced a net price increase of 250 Euros per metric ton, or as permitted by contract, for all DuPont Ti-Pure titanium dioxide grades of all countries in which invoicing is in Euro like the countries of Western and Central Europe and the North African region.

For all countries invoicing in U.S. dollar, namely the countries of Eastern Europe, Middle East and the Sub-Saharan African region, DuPont announced a net price increase of $500 per metric tonne. The price increases would be effective from June 1.

DuPont also confirmed that its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of food ingredients company Danisco for 700 Danish Krone per share in cash is "best and final."

In April, DuPont announced its first-quarter results and increased its full-year 2011 earnings guidance to a range of $3.65 to $3.85 per share from the previous range of $3.45 to $3.75 per share, excluding the impact of Danisco.

First-quarter earnings increased to $1.43 billion or $1.52 per share compared with $1.13 billion or $1.24 per share in the prior year.

DuPont is a global chemical and life sciences company, employing more than 60,000 people worldwide with a diverse array of product offerings. With over 21,000 patents and 15,000 patent applications worldwide, DuPont sells its products in diverse markets such as transportation, construction, apparel, agriculture, nutrition and health, packaging and electronics markets.

DuPont faces stiff competition from The Dow Chemical Company (DOW).

The company currently retains a Zacks #2 Rank on the stock, which translates into a short-term “Buy” rating. In addition, we reiterate our “Outperform” recommendation on the stock for the long term.

 
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