Tronox

Tronox Limited
Company typePublic company
NYSETROX (Class A)
Russell 2000 Component
IndustryMining; chemical manufacturing
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
HeadquartersStamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Key people
Jeff Quinn (chief executive officer)

Jean-François Turgeon (executive vice president and chief operating officer)

Timothy C. Carlson (chief financial officer and director)
ProductsTitanium products; titanium dioxide pigment
Revenue$2.7 billion (2020)
$995 million (2020)
Number of employees
~6,500 (2022)
Websitewww.tronox.com

Tronox Limited is an American worldwide chemical company involved in the titanium products industry with approximately 6,500 employees. Following its acquisition of the mineral sands business formerly belonging to South Africa's Exxaro Resources, Tronox is the largest fully integrated seller and marketer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment, which provides brightness to applications such as coatings, plastics and paper. Tronox also sells titanium ore – the main feedstock of titanium dioxide - and zircon directly to customers.

Tronox is the third-largest titanium feedstock producer, with approximately 10% of global titanium ore production; and the second-largest producer of zircon, with approximately 20% of global production. The company also has an electrolytic and speciality chemicals business that services the paper and battery industries. Formerly a part of the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation and based in Oklahoma City since it was spun off from its parent in 2005, the company announced in June 2012 that it was moving its headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut.[1][2][3]

The company was spun off in part to offload its parent company Kerr-McGee's legacy of generations of environmental dumping of toxic waste across 22 states. According to one report, "Kerr-McGee, rather than pay for the environmental mess it created, decided to shift the liabilities between 2002 and 2006 into Tronox. Kerr-McGee, meanwhile, kept its valuable oil and gas assets."[4] Tronox did not reveal the massive hidden liabilities to investors, and after they became known, Tronox dropped to a penny stock in 2009. In response, shareholders sued Anadarko Petroleum (successor to Kerr-McGee) for keeping the scope of the environmental disaster a secret. In addition the US federal government sued Anadarko to pay for the cleanup, and in April 2014 settled on the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history, over $5 billion.[4]

  1. ^ Mara Lee, "With $3 Million, State Lures Chemical Firm Mired In Pollution Disputes"[permanent dead link], Hartford Courant, June 6, 2012.
  2. ^ "Tronox to Receive $20.5 Million in Settlement with United States". Tronox. Archived from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  3. ^ "Tronox 2005 Annual Report" (PDF). 2005. Retrieved 2009-10-06.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference tucker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).