Abstract
Demand for titanium metal is expanding rapidly in North America, Europe and
particularly Asia. Production of titanium sponge, which makes up about 75% of
the feed for titanium melting, increased from 74kt in 2003 to 124kt in 2006.
The explosive growth of Chinese demand for titanium metal is probably the most
notable feature of the world market for titanium since 2003, with shipments of
mill products in China reaching 20ktpy by the end of 2006, in comparison to
10kt in 2003. Projects that would increase China' s titanium sponge capacity
from about 18kt in 2006 to 56kt by the end of 2007, and to 126kt by 2010, were
announced in 2006. The major producers in the USA, Russia and Japan are also
installing new titanium sponge, melting and mill product capacity, principally
to meet growing demand for high quality material from exacting aerospace
industry. The commercial aerospace industries in the USA and Europe are
recovering strongly, and aerospace demand for high-grade titanium and titanium
alloy mill products is growing at about 7%py. The world fleet of passenger
aircraft is forecast to double by 2025, and the new large passenger jets will
use much higher proportions of titanium than current aircraft.
The key trends, issues and developments in the market are analysed in this
major new report from Roskill. It provides a clear insight into the industry
and its trends, and an authoritative analysis of the prospects for the future.
What the report gives you
- Independent, in-depth research and analysis
- Essential market intelligence for successful business planning
- Detailed survey of production and processing in 61 countries
- Up-to-date profiles of the activities of over 70 titanium metal producing
and processing companies, and new projects, including VSMPO Avisma, Sumitomo
Titanium Corp., Zunyi Titanium Stock Co. and Timet
- Forecasts for end-use consumption and world supply and demand
Report highlights
Spot prices for titanium sponge, which had been historically stable at
typically between $5 and $7/kg, increased by a factor of four in the first
half of 2005, with rising demand globally, and limited supply capacity. In the
third quarter of 2006, the USGS was quoting a high value of US imports of
sponge of $28.24/kg. The market started to weaken in late 2006 and early 2007,
as supplies from China and elsewhere became more plentiful. In January 2007,
Chinese 99.6%Ti grade sponge was being quoted at about $15/kg, compared with a
high of $29/kg in July 2006.
Titanium ingot production amounted to about 145kt in 2006, 88% in the USA,
Russia, Japan and China. Of the principal ingot and mill product producing
companies, VSMPO Avisma, Timet, RTI, ATI, Toho and Baoji all intend to
increase capacity by 2010.
World output of ferrotitanium is of the order of 80ktpy (70%Ti equivalent) and
is produced principally in Russia, by VSMPO Avisma and Klyuchevsky, in the UK
by London and Scandinavian. In 2006, it became clear that Chinese production
of ferrotitanium was increasing significantly as exports rose to over 10,000t.
The global market for titanium mill products in 2005 was about 83kt, and
probably exceeded 90kt in 2006. A further 45kt was consumed in the form or
ferrotitanium. Demand for mill products is forecast to grow by 6.8%py up to
2011, resulting in a market for 124kt, requiring 230kt of sponge. Industrial
markets outside the EU and North America will grow at about 10%py.
In an effort to substantially reduce the cost of titanium, there are more than
20 research programmes globally into the direct and continuous production of
titanium metal from its ore or titanium dioxide. Should an order of magnitude
reduction in cost become a reality, penetration of the automotive market is
probably the greatest prize.
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