1.Basic properties and uses of titanium
Titanium is regarded as the “all-round metal” among metals. Following iron and aluminum, it is the “third metal” with promising growth potential. Titanium is a hard, silvery-white metal with a melting point of 1,668℃. It is a refractory light metal also significant for the country’s strategic purposes.
Titanium ranks ninth among all elements and is a rare metal abundant in the earth’s crust at 0.69%. The primary types of titanium ore are rutile, ilmenite, and other ores that contain titanium. By dressing the ore, these ores can be chosen as titanium concentrate and processed further to create titanium-rich products such synthetic rutile and high-titanium slag. The primary source of titanium is ilmenite. The primary locations for titanium resources worldwide are China, Australia, India, Brazil, and South Africa.
Outstanding properties of titanium include its high strength, low density, resistance to corrosion, high and low-temperature tolerance, and exceptional forming capability. It is extensively utilized in various industries, including biomedicine, chemical metallurgy, marine engineering, aviation, aerospace, ships and armaments, sports, and leisure.
To modify titanium’s matrix phase composition and overall physical and chemical characteristics, aluminum, tin, vanadium, molybdenum, niobium, and other elements are added to the metal to create titanium alloy. Due to the high technological content and intricate smelting and processing technology of titanium and titanium alloys, only China, Japan, Russia, and the United States have mastered the whole production technology of the titanium industry. For the advancement of a nation’s economy, science, and technology, as well as its national security, titanium and titanium alloys are strategically important.
2. Industry Chain for Titanium
The titanium industry chain has two divisions: the titanium dioxide industry chain and the titanium material industry chain.
Beginning with the extraction of rutile and ilmenite, the titanium dioxide industry uses sulfuric acid and chlorination to create chemical intermediates. The industries of coatings, plastics, papermaking, printing inks, adhesives, ceramics, cosmetics, food, medicine, electronics, micro-electromechanical, and environmental protection, among others, use titanium dioxide extensively. Almost every facet of the industrial sector has been affected by it.
The amount used by downstream industries is the primary factor influencing the demand for titanium dioxide. The construction sector is the primary downstream consumer of the coating business, and the coating industry is the greatest downstream consumer of titanium dioxide among them. Consequently, the growth of the real estate sector has a bigger influence on the titanium dioxide market demand. The second-largest industry using titanium dioxide is the plastics sector. Plastic items can be made more resistant to heat, light, and weather by adding titanium dioxide. The third-largest industry using titanium dioxide is the papermaking sector. Titanium dioxide must be added to decorative paper and banknotes that have strict specifications for paper brightness, thinness, and anti-aging.
There are four major phases in the titanium industry.
- First, rutile and ilmenite are used as the primary raw materials, as natural rutile concentrate and ilmenite concentrate are obtained after beneficiation and enrichment, and then sponge titanium is obtained through extraction processes like the magnesium reduction method;
- Second, sponge titanium is used as the primary raw material, and titanium ingots are obtained through processes like melting and casting, or intermediate alloys are added to melt and smelt into titanium alloy ingots;
- Thirdly, titanium products of various specifications (shapes) are produced by deformation treatment, heat treatment, and mechanical processing such as forging, rolling, extrusion, drawing, and other processes.
- Finally, in certain industries and industrial products, titanium materials can be manufactured into titanium and titanium alloy parts or equipment through deep processing technology.
3.Overview of the titanium industry
3.1. The manufacture of titanium dioxide
The two primary categories of titanium dioxide are pigment grade and non-pigment grade. While titanium dioxide that is primarily used for purity in industrial sectors like enamel, welding rods, ceramics, electronics, and metallurgy is known as non-pigment grade titanium dioxide or non-coating titanium dioxide, titanium dioxide that is primarily used as a white pigment in industries like coatings, inks, plastics, rubber, papermaking, chemical fibers, art pigments, and everyday cosmetics is typically referred to as pigment grade titanium dioxide, titanium dioxide pigment, or titanium dioxide.
Anatase titanium dioxide, also known as A type, and rutile titanium dioxide, sometimes known as R type, are the two types of pigment-grade titanium dioxide that are separated based on their crystal forms. Anatase titanium dioxide is mostly utilized in the papermaking, plastics, glass, inks, rubber, cosmetics, soap, and interior coatings sectors. With superior weather resistance and concealing ability compared to anatase titanium dioxide, rutile titanium dioxide is primarily utilized in high-end outdoor coatings, glossy latex coatings, plastics, rubber materials that have strict color reduction and weather resistance requirements, high-grade paper coatings, etc. Depending on its primary application, non-pigment grade titanium dioxide is separated into graded categories such as enamel, welding rod, ceramic, electronic, and others.
Currently, the sulfuric acid method and the chlorination method are the two primary production methods used in the global titanium dioxide sector.
Titanium concentration or acid-soluble titanium slag are the raw materials used in the sulfuric acid method, which breaks them down with sulfuric acid to produce titanium dioxide via filtering, hydrolysis, calcination, crushing, and other procedures. Following over a century of development, the sulfuric acid technique technology has reached a somewhat mature state and is capable of producing rutile titanium dioxide and anatase. The production apparatus is adaptable, allowing for load adjustment and startup and shutdown. The process flow is lengthy, and more than three wastes are released, primarily acid-containing wastewater and ferrous sulfate, which are easier to handle. However, this method does not require high raw material grade, and titanium concentrate resources are generally available.
In 1956, the United States started to industrialize the chlorination process. Using artificial rutile, high-titanium slag (chlorinated slag), or natural rutile as raw materials, the chlorination process creates titanium tetrachloride. Distillation purification, gas-phase oxidation, rapid cooling, and gas-solid separation are the next steps in the process to produce titanium dioxide. It must be chlorinated at 1,000°C or higher, but the process is quick, the manufacturing is mechanized and continuous, and the product quality is easily controlled. It is necessary to address the high corrosiveness of titanium tetrachloride, chlorine, and chlorine oxides in the production process, and the cost of building is greater than that of the sulfuric acid technique.
Since 2005, the chlorination process for producing titanium dioxide has been supported and encouraged at the national level. However, over the past ten years, the actual development speed has been relatively slow due to China’s lack of major raw materials like high-titanium slag and artificial rutile, as well as a few companies’ monopoly on advanced technology. Only four firms, out of the large-scale full-process titanium dioxide companies that can sustain regular production in my country, produced 208,600 tons of chlorination titanium dioxide in total by 2019. This accounted for 6.56% of the nation’s total titanium dioxide production that year.
The raw materials and production technique for chlorination titanium dioxide are limited in China. Importing some premium titanium dioxide is still necessary. Therefore, to eliminate the reliance on imports for the consumption of high-end titanium dioxide products, the companies that produce titanium dioxide in my nation must step up their research and development efforts. The following are industry hurdles in the titanium dioxide sector: The production of titanium dioxide requires a significant amount of capital. A minimum of 200 million yuan in construction capital is needed to develop a new plant that uses the sulfuric acid process and has an annual capacity of 30,000 tons. The capital investment required for construction will increase considerably more if the chlorination procedure is employed.
Among inorganic chemical compounds, titanium dioxide has one of the most complicated production processes and significant technological obstacles. Despite its relative maturity, the sulfuric acid process is a non-continuous production method with a complex process flow that involves approximately 24 steps and 5 major sections, essentially covering all of the unit operation processes needed to produce inorganic chemicals. Strict quality control is necessary at every stage, and the process control detection tools must meet high requirements. It is challenging for newcomers to quickly become proficient in all process technologies. The technology involved in the chlorination process is challenging, and it is considerably more so for newcomers who lack industry technology accumulation.
Furthermore, sulfuric acid production companies that fail to meet international standards for product quality, are unable to fully utilize waste acid and ferrous sulfate, or whose environmental protection emissions do not meet standards are forced to implement production restrictions, production cuts, and suspension measures by the current industrial policy. Land management, urban planning and construction, environmental protection, quality inspection, fire protection, customs, industry, and commerce, among other departments, will not handle pertinent procedures for new projects that do not meet the requirements. As a result, financial institutions will not grant loans for such projects.
According to data from Tuduoduo, the capacity to produce titanium dioxide worldwide is expected to reach 9.819 million tons in 2023, with China’s increased ability to produce titanium dioxide accounting for the majority of this expansion. China currently has 55% of the world’s capacity; as a result of the demand from the global market and the way the titanium dioxide industry is operating, Chemours and Pan-Energy will reduce their production capacity, and China’s share of the titanium dioxide production capacity will continue to grow steadily.
3.2. The industry of titanium
Sponge titanium is a single titanium metal substance that is typically porous or light gray particles. It is a crucial raw material used to make titanium alloys and other titanium products.
The ability to produce titanium sponges worldwide is 444,000 tons in 2023. China’s manufacturing capacity for titanium sponges continues to grow, and its proportion of the world’s production capacity steadily rises. As a result of geopolitics and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainian titanium sponge factory was shut down, resulting in a 12,000-ton decrease in the global supply of titanium sponges. In 2023, China’s production capacity accounted for 63% of the global production capacity, followed by Japan’s at 18% and Russia’s at 10%. The pattern of supply for titanium sponge production capacity gradually changed.
According to statistics, the output of the global titanium sponge sector was 279,000 tons in 2022, representing a 14.6% rise over the previous year. Of these, China produced 62.7% of the titanium sponges, while Russia and Ukraine produced fewer titanium sponges, falling 7.4% and 83.6%, respectively; Japan, Kazakhstan, and Saudi Arabia produced more titanium sponges, rising 1.6%, 6.7%, and 93.0%, respectively. Regarding the output of the Chinese titanium sponge sector specifically, China Nonferrous Metals News reports that domestic titanium sponge production increased from 59,000 tons to 175,000 tons between 2015 and 2022, averaging a compound annual growth rate of 16.80%. China will produce 215,400 tons of titanium sponges annually in 2023, up 21.72% from the previous year and an increase of almost 38,400 tons, according to data from Tuduoduo.
From the perspective of the demand structure of titanium sponge, the global demand is mainly aviation and chemical industry, accounting for 46% and 43% respectively; the domestic demand is mainly chemical industry and aviation, accounting for 46% and 15% respectively.
The main use of titanium alloy in the aviation field: titanium alloy is widely used in aircraft fuselages and engines due to its excellent performance, and is an important structural material for aircraft.
In terms of fuselages, titanium alloys are mainly used for fire walls, skins, beams, landing gears, wing ribs, bulkheads, fasteners, ducts, doors, tie rods, etc. due to their high specific strength, strong toughness, excellent fatigue resistance, and good welding process performance.
In terms of engines, titanium alloys are mainly used for compressor plates, static blades, moving blades, casings, combustion chamber casings, exhaust mechanism casings, center bodies, jet pipes, etc. due to their good thermal stability, good oxidation resistance and creep resistance.
Military field: titanium alloys can effectively reduce the weight of aircraft structures, increase the life of the fuselage, and improve the engine thrust-to-weight ratio, so they are becoming more and more important structural materials for military aircraft fuselages and engines. In the design and construction process of new fighter jets, the amount and level of titanium used have become important indicators to measure the degree of advancement of aircraft models.
Civilian field: According to the “China Commercial Aircraft Corporation Market Forecast Annual Report (2022-2041)”, 42,428 new passenger aircraft will be delivered worldwide in the next 20 years, and China will receive 9,284 passenger aircraft in the next 20 years. By 2041, China’s fleet size will reach 10,007, accounting for 21.1% of the global passenger aircraft fleet. China’s aviation market will become the world’s largest single aviation market. According to the “2023 Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Report” issued by the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, by the end of 2023, C919 has received a total of 1,061 orders; ARJ21 has received 775 orders and has delivered a total of 122 aircraft. Assuming that the proportion of titanium alloy processing loss is calculated at 80%, the future C919 and ARJ21 models will bring about 24,700 tons of titanium alloy demand.
At the same time, the proportion of titanium used in civil aircraft is also on the rise. Taking the current mainstream Airbus and Boeing aircraft in civil aviation as an example, Airbus increased from 4.0% of A300 to 14.0% of A350, and Boeing increased from 4.0% of B747 to 15.0% of B787. Domestically, the commercial passenger aircraft ARJ21 uses 4.8% of titanium per aircraft, while the C919 large passenger aircraft widely uses titanium alloys, and its single-aircraft titanium usage has reached 9.3%. Therefore, even if the release of demand for civil aircraft is not considered, only considering the replacement of civil aircraft will also bring significant growth to the titanium alloy market in my country’s aviation field.
The main uses of titanium alloys in the field of ships and underwater equipment: Titanium alloys have the characteristics of light weight, high specific strength, good corrosion resistance, non-magnetic, and impact resistance. Using them can effectively improve the waterproof, pressure-resistant and corrosion-resistant properties of ships and underwater equipment, improve reliability and effectiveness, reduce maintenance costs, extend service life, achieve weight reduction and load increase, and improve concealment, making titanium alloys favored by navies of various countries. At present, titanium alloys are mainly used in hull structures, pressure hulls, pipes, valves and other parts of surface ships, underwater submarines, submersibles and other equipment.
Russia is at the world’s leading level in the research and application of titanium alloys for ships and underwater equipment. Its ships and underwater equipment use an average of 18% of titanium alloys, and as early as the 1960s and 1980s, it successfully built 3 levels of 12 all-titanium alloy attack nuclear submarines. The United States also widely uses titanium alloys in its ships and underwater equipment. For example, a large amount of titanium alloys are used in the superstructure area of
4.TOP Titanium material supplier in China
A. Longbai Group (titanium full industrial chain)
The Longbai Group is a sizable, multifaceted business conglomerate committed to deep industrial integration, production, and the study and development of novel materials. Currently, its primary activities include the manufacturing and distribution of zirconium goods, titanium dioxide, titanium sponge, and materials for the positive and negative electrodes of lithium batteries, among other items. More than 100 countries and territories, as well as six continents, purchase the company’s products.
The primary products of Longbai Group are zirconium goods, titanium dioxide, titanium sponge, and materials for the positive and negative electrodes of lithium batteries. Among these are the world’s largest production capacities for titanium dioxide (1.51 million tons annually) and titanium sponge (50,000 tons annually); lithium iron phosphate (50,000 tons annually), iron phosphate (100,000 tons annually), graphite negative electrode (25,000 tons annually), and graphitization (50,000 tons annually). The company’s titanium industry base is spread across five provinces and six cities, including Henan, Sichuan, Hubei, Yunnan, and Gansu. It started out as a green industrial chain that included the mining and processing of titanium minerals, the production of titanium dioxide and titanium metal, and the entire use of derivative resources.
The company is the biggest titanium dioxide producer in China, the fourth largest titanium dioxide producer worldwide, and a leader in the global titanium dioxide market. With sales in over 100 countries and territories, the “Xuelian” brand of titanium dioxide goods from Longbai Group is among the most well-known and significant brands on the international market. Panzhihua vanadium-titanium magnetite is the greatest of the Longbai Group’s several titanium ore deposits, both domestically and internationally. It creates titanium concentrate, iron concentrate, and sulfur-cobalt concentrate by removing the original ore and then crushing, grinding, and beneficiating the ore. The iron and sulfur-cobalt concentrates are sold to the outside world, while the titanium concentrate is used internally.
B. Vanadium Titanium Co., Ltd. (Titanium Industry Chain)
Vanadium Titanium Co., Ltd. primarily deals with power, titanium, and vanadium. The manufacturing, sales, technical research and development, and application development of vanadium products, titanium dioxide, and titanium slag are the company’s strategic key development businesses. Vanadium oxide, ferrovanadium, vanadium nitrogen alloy, vanadium aluminum alloy, vanadium electrolyte, titanium dioxide, titanium slag, and so forth are among the principal products. In addition to being a significant domestic producer of titanium slag, sulfuric acid technique, and chloride method titanium dioxide, the company is a key supplier of titanium raw materials in China and a big producer of vanadium.
With a manufacturing capacity of 220,000 tons of sulfuric acid method titanium dioxide and 15,000 tons of chloride method titanium dioxide annually, the company is a significant local provider of titanium dioxide. The chloride-based titanium dioxide has perfected the full-process technology and equipment technology for producing high-quality titanium dioxide based on Panxi titanium resources; the company’s acid-based titanium dioxide has developed a product system that blends general products with special products. The company’s production capacity for chloride-based titanium dioxide will increase to 75,000 tons annually with the completion and commissioning of the 60,000 tons/year molten salt chloride-based titanium dioxide project in 2024, significantly enhancing its market dominance.
The business supplies a significant amount of titanium raw materials domestically. Regarding product quality and business scale, the company’s titanium slag and concentrate goods are very influential in China. The company’s titanium concentrate business volume in 2023 was 1.76 million tons (including self-use), placing it among the top in China; its titanium slag output climbed somewhat from 2022 to 2023, further placing it among the top in China.
C. CNNC Titanium Dioxide (Titanium Dioxide)
CNNC Titanium Dioxide formed an industry-leading production capacity of new energy chemical materials, including titanium dioxide, phosphate rock, yellow phosphorus, and iron phosphate, in 2023 by acquiring phosphate concentrate mining and processing companies and yellow phosphorus production companies with a tens of millions of tons of mine reserve.
Among these are the following: approximately 550,000 tons of titanium dioxide are currently produced annually, with a 700,000-ton production capacity planned; 500,000 tons of phosphate rock are currently produced annually; 30,000 tons of yellow phosphorus are currently produced annually, with a 90,000-ton-per-year technical transformation project anticipated to begin production in 2024; and 100,000 tons of iron phosphate are currently produced annually, with a 500,000-ton production capacity planned. The company’s primary source of operating income is the sales of titanium dioxide products, but it also receives revenue from the sale of ferrous sulfate, phosphate rock, yellow phosphorus, iron phosphate, and other products, as well as from logistics and transportation services.
D. Baoti Group (Titanium Materials)
The primary activities of the Baoti Group are the manufacture, commercialization, and processing of titanium and titanium alloys. It’s China’s biggest hub for research and manufacture of titanium and titanium alloys. The company’s titanium material production system is world-class and comprehensive. Titanium and titanium alloy plates, strips, foils, tubes, bars, wires, forgings, castings, and other processed materials of different specifications, as well as different metal composite materials, are its primary manufacturing products.
Titanium materials, the company’s primary product, is produced year, placing it among the best in the world. The business holds a dominant position in the home market. It received the title of Excellent provider of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation for three years in a row and was named the sole gold medal provider of titanium materials for the “Dayun Project” in 2016. Additionally, Boeing, Airbus, Snecma, Goodrich, Bombardier, Rolls-Royce, and other corporations consider it a key partner.
This company is the first titanium processing company in my nation to be designated as a “national enterprise technology center” by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and other commissions and ministries. It has accomplished more than 700 significant scientific research findings and successfully finished over 8,000 national scientific research projects, significantly advancing both the growth of advanced science and technology and modernizing the nation’s military.
The company’s 4,500-meter manned submersible “Deep Sea Warrior” has achieved an international advanced level with its titanium alloy manned sphere. My nation’s deep-sea exploration and equipment research and development technology has made a historic transition from “running side by side” to “leading” internationally thanks to the successful development of the titanium alloy manned sphere for the 10,000-meter manned submersible. This has also established a strong basis for the safe and seamless diving of my nation’s 10,000-meter manned submersible.
The company’s top-tier equipment includes a 2400kW electron beam cooling furnace, a 15t vacuum consumable arc furnace, a 2500t fast forging machine, a 10,000-ton free forging machine, and a titanium strip production line MB22-TI type twenty-roller cold rolling mill, which is currently the most advanced equipment level in the world.
E. Western Superconducting (Titanium)
Western Superconducting is mainly engaged in the research, development, production and sales of superconducting products, high-end titanium alloy materials and high-performance high-temperature alloy materials and applications. The company is currently the only company in China that has achieved commercial production of superconducting wires, and is also the only company in the world that produces NbTi ingots, bars, superconducting wires and superconducting magnets throughout the entire process; it is the main research and development production base for high-end titanium alloy bars and wires in my country; it is also one of the key research and development and production companies for high-performance high-temperature alloy materials in my country. The company’s main products are divided into three categories. The first category is superconducting products, including NbTi ingots, NbTi superconducting wires, Nb3Sn superconducting wires, MgB2 wires and superconducting magnets; the second category is high-end titanium alloy materials, including bars, wires, etc.; the third category is high-performance high-temperature alloy materials, including deformed high-temperature alloys and high-temperature alloy master alloys, etc.
Superconducting product industry: In my nation, the company is a key hub for the development and manufacturing of useful superconducting materials and magnet technology. In addition to being the sole full-process manufacturer of niobium-titanium ingots, superconducting wires, and superconducting magnets worldwide, it is now the only commercial producer of low-temperature superconducting wires in China. Multi-core composite wires are superconducting wires that operate at low temperatures. The company has developed a comprehensive set of core technologies through independent research and development, including flux pinning adjustment, heat treatment, big deformation plastic processing, conductor design, and high-uniform alloy smelting. As of right now, the company is the only domestic company with technical accumulation, and the low-temperature superconducting material preparation technology is a delicate one that cannot be acquired from overseas.
High-end titanium alloy industry: The company is the main research and development and production base for high-end titanium alloy rods and wires in my country. The high-end titanium alloy materials produced, including large rods, small rods, wires, etc., are mainly used in aviation (including aircraft structural parts, fasteners and engine parts, etc.), ships, weapons, etc. The company has independently developed a number of key technologies, such as purification and homogenization control of large-scale ingots, homogenization control of rods and wires, and batch stability control of rods and wires, which can meet the domestic high-end market’s demand for titanium alloy performance levels. The company’s independently developed and mass-produced various new titanium alloys have filled many gaps in this field in China and ensured the supply of key titanium alloy materials urgently needed by the country. Among them, three major grades of new titanium alloys have become the main titanium alloys for my country’s aviation structural parts and fasteners, providing key materials for the first flight and mass production of my country’s new fighters and transport aircraft. The high-end titanium alloy materials produced by the company have broken the technical blockade and embargo of key titanium alloy materials for my country’s aviation, ships, and weapons by developed countries in Europe and the United States.
High-performance high-temperature alloy industry: The technical threshold of high-temperature alloys is relatively high, and it is a high-tech industry that the country focuses on supporting. The production of domestic high-temperature alloy products is concentrated in a few companies. The company has completed material preparation for a number of research and development projects for high-temperature alloy materials for aviation engines and has become a material supplier for relevant demand units. In the aviation engine market, the company has made breakthroughs in the mass production technology of more than ten grades of high-temperature alloys represented by GH4169, GH4169G, GH738, GH907, GH4698, GH4720Li and other alloys through its technological accumulation in recent years, and has obtained the supply qualification of related grades of high-temperature alloy bar products. In the commercial aviation engine market, the company’s large-size GH4738 bar with a diameter of φ600mm has passed the assessment of a certain type of engine parts. In the gas turbine market, the company’s large-size GH4169 bar has completed forging verification and evaluation on multiple domestic models of gas turbines and civil gas turbines and obtained supply qualifications.
