Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Purchase and Capital Commitments—Includes obligations for purchase requirements of process chemicals, supplies, utilities and services entered into in the ordinary course of business. At June 30, 2023, purchase commitments were $242 million for the remainder of 2023, $177 million for 2024, $157 million for 2025, $157 million for 2026, $162 million for 2027, and $1,515 million thereafter.

Letters of Credit—At June 30, 2023, we had outstanding letters of credit and bank guarantees of $109 million, of which $70 million were letters of credit, of which $50 million is related to the sale of Hawkins Point as discussed below, and $39 million were bank guarantees. Amounts for performance bonds were not material.

Environmental Matters—It is our policy to record appropriate liabilities for environmental matters when remedial efforts are probable and the costs can be reasonably estimated. Such liabilities are based on our best estimate of the undiscounted future costs required to complete the remedial work. The recorded liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress or as additional technical, regulatory or legal information becomes available. Given the uncertainties regarding the status of laws, regulations, enforcement policies, the impact of other potentially responsible parties, technology and information related to individual sites, we do not believe it is possible to develop an estimate of the range of reasonably possible environmental loss in excess of our recorded liabilities. We expect to fund expenditures for these matters from operating cash flows. The timing of cash expenditures depends principally on the timing of remedial investigations and feasibility studies, regulatory approval of cleanup projects, remedial techniques to be utilized and agreements with other parties.  Included in these environmental matters is the following:

Hawkins Point Plant.  Residual waste mud, known as Batch Attack Mud, and a spent sulfuric waste stream were deposited in an onsite repository (the “Batch Attack Lagoon”) at a former TiO2 manufacturing site, Hawkins Point Plant in Baltimore, Maryland, operated by Cristal USA, Inc. from 1954 until 2011. We assumed responsibility for remediation of the Hawkins Point Plant when we acquired the TiO2 business of Cristal in April 2019. On December 21, 2022, we sold the Hawkins Point Plant to the Maryland Port Administration ("MPA"), a state agency controlled by the Maryland Department of Transportation. Pursuant to the terms of the transaction, MPA became the lead party in developing and implementing appropriate measures to address, treat, control, and mitigate the environmental conditions at the property under the regulatory oversight of the Maryland Department of the Environment ("MPE"). Under MPA ownership, the Hawkins Point Plant will be utilized for storage and beneficial reuse of dredged material from the Port of Baltimore. In exchange for transferring ownership of the site to MPA, Tronox has agreed to make scheduled, annual payments to MPA which together with scheduled, annual contributions from MPA will be used to remediate the property. The sale of the property to MPA did not have a material impact to the Consolidated Statement of Operations. As of June 30, 2023, we have a provision of $42 million included in "Environmental liabilities" in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet for the Hawkins Point Plant consistent with the accounting policy described above.

Other Matters—We are subject to a number of other lawsuits, investigations and disputes (some of which involve substantial amounts claimed) arising out of the conduct of our business, including matters relating to commercial transactions, prior acquisitions and divestitures, including our acquisition of Cristal, employee benefit plans, intellectual property, and environmental, health and safety matters. We recognize a liability for any contingency that is probable of occurrence and reasonably estimable. We continually assess the likelihood of adverse judgments of outcomes in these matters, as well as potential ranges of possible losses (taking into consideration any insurance recoveries), based on a careful analysis of each matter with the assistance of outside legal counsel and, if applicable, other experts. Included in these other matters are the following:

UK Health and Safety Matter. In April 2023, we received a summons from the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) alleging non-compliance with UK health and safety legislation at the Stallingborough pigment plant resulting from an incident involving a contractor in August 2021. We also received notice that HSE is investigating another incident which occurred in August 2022 at the same plant involving an employee. With regard to the summons, in June 2023, Tronox Pigment UK Limited, the entity which owns the Stallingborough plant, pled guilty to the allegation. The sentencing hearing to determine monetary penalties is scheduled to occur in September 2023. We do not believe this matter will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. With regard to the notice of investigation into the second incident, the timing for an enforcement action, if any, is uncertain but based on our current understanding we also do not believe this matter will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Venator Materials plc v. Tronox Limited.  In May 2019, Venator Materials plc (“Venator”) filed an action in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware alleging among other things that we owed Venator a $75 million “Break Fee” pursuant to the terms of a preliminary agreement dated July 14, 2018 (the “Exclusivity Agreement”). The Exclusivity Agreement required, among other things, Tronox and Venator to use their respective best efforts to negotiate a definitive agreement to sell the entirety of the National Titanium Dioxide Company Limited’s (“Cristal’s”) North American operations to Venator if a divestiture of all or a substantial part of these operations were required to secure the approval of the Federal Trade Commission for us to complete our acquisition of Cristal’s TiO2 business. In June 2019, we denied Venator's claims and counterclaimed against Venator seeking to recover $400 million in damages from Venator that we suffered as a result of Venator’s breaches of the Exclusivity Agreement. Specifically, we alleged, among other things, that Venator’s failure to use best efforts constituted a material breach of the Exclusivity Agreement and directly resulted in and caused us to sell Cristal’s North American operations to an alternative buyer for $701 million, $400 million less than the price Venator had agreed to in the Exclusivity Agreement. On April 6, 2022, the Judge presiding over the case in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware delivered a directed verdict in favor of Venator without allowing the jury to deliberate. The Company determined not to appeal the Judge's verdict, and as such, on April 18, 2022, the Company and Venator entered into a settlement agreement whereby the Company paid $85 million, inclusive of interest, on April 25, 2022. As a result, we recorded the charge within "Venator settlement" on the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the six months ended June 30, 2022.

Western Australia Stamp Duty Matter. In May 2018, we lodged a pre-transaction determination request for a stamp duty exemption with the Western Australia Office of State Revenue (the “WA OSR”) in connection with our re-domicile transaction (the “Re-Domicile Transaction”). The WA OSR subsequently granted our request for an exemption in June 2018 on a preliminary basis. Immediately following the consummation of the Re-Domicile Transaction, we filed a confirmation request for the stamp duty exemption with the WA OSR. Following this confirmation request, we exchanged numerous communications with the WA OSR addressing questions raised and stating our position. In July 2021, the WA OSR informed us that they have reviewed their technical position on the applicability of the stamp duty exemption and have determined that such an exemption is disallowed. On April 8, 2022, the Company lodged an appeal of the WA OSR's decision with the Western Australia State Administrative Tribunal. On March 3, 2023, the WA OSR officially granted us the stamp duty exemption in connection with the Re-Domicile Transaction, and as such, the Tribunal proceeding was withdrawn.