Titanium supply expands

Allegheny technologies is expanding titanium sponge capacity to meet continued strong demand from the aerospace and power generation markets.

CEO L. Patrick Hassey says the Pittsburgh firm's facility in Albany, Ore., should have 22 million pounds of annual capacity in place by the first half of 2008.

The plant now makes 16 million lb/year.

"We also remain on schedule to begin producing premium-grade titanium sponge at our Raleigh, Utah, facility," he says. – Purchasing

...
Read more...

DuPont raises titanium prices

DuPont said Friday its Titanium Technologies unit will raise prices in the Middle East and Africa for Ti-Pure titanium dioxide grades in a move to counter higher raw material, energy and fuel costs.

Effective Oct. 1, titanium dioxide grades will increase $150 per ton, the company said.

The announcement comes a day after DuPont raised titanium prices in Asia.

Titanium dioxide is used by the coatings, paper and plastics industries.

DuPont shares rose 44 cents to $48.33 in morning trading. – Associated Press

...
Read more...

Titanium supply will be tight through 2010

Capacity expansions won't help supply until next decade

Buyers are correct in worrying about supply of titanium and titanium alloys through 2010. That's the admission from Dawne Hickton, vice president and CEO of titanium producer RTI International Metals in Niles, Ohio, even though producers are dusting off expansion blueprints for titanium sponge and mill product capacity.

Buyers will have to blend long-term acquisition plans with risk management programs because "supply still will be the issue for some time to some," she says, since major jetliner makers already have a six-year backlog for new aircraft designs that call for three to four times as much titanium as older models.

Various buyer surveys by Purchasing have found concern about future availability of titanium – from sponge, the raw material, to final fabricated parts, which already take as long as 18 months for delivery these days. "Mill product tightness will continue through 2010," Hickton tells the Basic Industries Group's Aerospace Materials Cost Outlook and Forecast 2007 meeting in Philadelphia this week. "Final finished product tightness will continue as well."

Reason: One key factor is the time it takes to get new capacity on line. Hickton says 30-36 months are needed before a new sponge plant goes in operation and even longer for downstream capacity of mill products and finished fabricated parts – since production has to be certified to meet aerospace and medical industry quality requirements.

John Mothersole, an economist with Global Insight in Eddystone, Pa., tells the conference that global sponge capacity will increase by 14% annually between 2006 and 2010 to 220,000 metric tons – based on expansions announced by RTI, Allegheny Technologies of Pittsburgh, Russian producer VSMPO-AVISMA, Kobe Steel of Japan and several Chinese firms. However, some of the Chinese expansions now are in doubt – yet world demand will surge by as much as 40% in the same timeframe, keeping pressure on supply and prices.

And there's also a chance that aerospace demand for high-grade titanium and titanium alloy mill products could grow by as much as 22% annually next decade – if and when the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 and A380 programs really take off. These future-model planes will switch from traditional aluminium-lithium skins to composite materials to reduce weight and cut maintenance costs. These planes will require 20% of their weight to be titanium, as compared with 5% in previous generations. That means that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner will have 250,000 lb of titanium per plane while the A380 will have 200,000. – Purchasing

...
Read more...

Panzhihua commences on RMB 490 mln titanium sponge plant

Panzhihua Steel & Iron Group (Pzhsteel), one of the nation's largest steel and iron manufacturers, has commenced on its RMB 490 million titanium sponge project in Panzhihua Vanadium and Titanium Industrial Park last Friday, according to Shanghai Securities News.

Located in Western China's Sichuan province, the new plant is capable of producing 5,000 ton of titanium sponges. The construction period will span eighteen months and the new plant is expected to start its operations by the end of 2008. The new plant is expected to bring an annual sales revenue of RMB 700 million.

Pzhsteel will be integrating state-of-art technologies to the titanium sponge plant, which will form a titanium production chain, with the addition of a titanium slag plant and chloro-alkaline plant built by the company. The project is one of the greatest progress in titanium production, said Yu Zisu, general manager of Pzhsteel.

Pzhsteel started its operations in 1970 and became China's largest vanadium steel and railway steel producer. The group consists of three listed companies, including Panzhihua New Steel & Vanadium Co. Ltd, Pangang Changcheng Special Steel Co. Ltd, and Chongqing Titanium Industry Co. Ltd of Pangang Group. – China Knowledge

...
Read more...

S Africa: Plans for titanium plant

As part of the government's commitment to speed up economic growth, the Department of Science and Technology is looking into the possibility of developing an industry that will enable this country to produce titanium powder from ore mined in the Eastern Cape, and eventually to cast titanium parts for the aerospace industry.

Director General of the department Phil Mjarwa revealed at a press conference held on Wednesday in Parliament that the department was already in talks with the Boeing aircraft manufacturing company about the possibility of providing them with titanium powder.

He also disclosed that the government was looking into the possibility of acquiring a R400-million plant to produce it.

State-owned foundries have already begun producing samples of titanium aerospace parts.

Aerospace parts would take longer

Mjarwa explained that the powder could be produced commercially here within two to four years. The aerospace parts would take longer — probably until 2014 — because of the need to have the parts certified.

The powder, a precursor to the actual titanium metal, is produced from ilmenite mined in the Eastern Cape, through a "Kroll process". Its most common compound, titanium dioxide, is used in the manufacture of white pigments. Other compounds include titanium tetrachloride (used in smoke screens and skywriting, and as a catalyst) and titanium trichloride (used as a catalyst in the production of polypropylene).

The two most useful properties of the metal form are corrosion resistance, and the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal. In its unalloyed condition, titanium is as strong as steel, but 45 percent lighter.

...
Read more...

World largest titanium mine put into production in Mozambique

A titanium ore dredge mine, Mozambique's largest mining project to date, is under way at Topuito on the coast of the Northern Province Nampula, local media reported on Saturday.

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Friday inaugurated the mine at Topuito of the Northern Province Nampula, which can supply 6 percent of the total world demand for titanium feedstock, AIM said.

The mine has been developed by the Irish company Kenmare Resources, which has invested 500 million U.S. dollars since prospection into the heavy mineral deposits began in 1987. The mine is set to become one of the world's largest suppliers of titanium ores.

Titanium metal is light, strong and chemically inert. It is used in the aerospace and automobile industries. But the main use of the titanium ores is for the production of pigment by chemical companies. Everyday items such as paints, paper and plastic depend on titanium for their colouring.

From the heavy mineral sands of Topuito, Kenmare plans to produce 800,000 tons of ilmenite (iron titanium oxide) and 21,000 tons of rutile (titanium dioxide) a year. The mine should also produce 56,000 tons a year of a third ore, zircon (zirconium silicate), which is used in ceramics.

At the inauguration of the mine on Friday, the Kenmare managing director Michael Cargill recalled that "at times it seemed impossible to continue". The negotiations were "long and tough," he admitted, "but I believe we ended up as good friends as well as negotiating partners."

Exports have not yet begun, since the barge, built in Singapore, has not reached Topuito. Cargill told reporters that the barge left the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, about a month ago, and is expected to reach Mozambique on about Nov. 8.

The first confirmed export is 25,000 tons of ilmenite for a company in Slovenia. But Cargill says that major chemical companies elsewhere in Europe, in America, Japan and China, are all interested in obtaining titanium ores from Topuito.

Since 1987, Kenmare has spent about 500 million dollars on heavy sands prospection, and on building the Topuito infrastructures. Of this, 275 million dollars is in the form of bank loans and the rest is equity.

Cargill was confident of paying off the loans on schedule, and believes that the mine would make a return on the investment "in maybe ten years."

The mine and its associated structures provide about 400 jobs. Kenmare wants to recruit the unskilled and semi-skilled labor locally, although expatriate technical staff will still be required for many years to come, since this is the first time such a mine has been built in Mozambique.

...
Read more...

China Direct fired up by magnesium deal

Even as its chairman prepares to ring the opening bell on Wall Street on Tuesday, investment company China Direct has seen its shares surge 128% in the ten days since it made its debut on the American Stock Exchange through a backdoor listing. The latest stimulus to the company's fortunes, which drove up the stock by more than 35% Friday, was merely a small magnesium project with estimated annual sales of $50 million.

China Direct seems to have swung a good deal, at least on paper. Just four days after it had made its initial investment of some $2 million in CDI Pan Magnesium, China Direct's market value had shot up by $50.6 million to $193.5 million. The stock leapt 35.43%, or $3.10, to $11.85, with more than 7.3 million shares changing hands.

CDI Pan Magnesium is a joint venture 51% held by China Direct; its Chinese partner, Shanxi Jinyang Coal and Coke Group, owns the remaining 49% stake in the project. China Direct said last Monday it would contribute 51 million yuan ($6.8 million) as registered capital, which will be infused in stages over the course of 2 years. The first installment of $2.035 million was provided by China Direct on October 1.

The joint venture currently has a production capacity of about 6,000 tons of magnesium per year and is completing the construction of two new facilities that will add another 12,000 tons annually in 2008.

Based on the current magnesium price of approximately $2,800 per ton, China Direct predicted that the new production capacity, when fully operational, will be able to generate approximately $50 million in annualized sales, with an anticipated net profit margin of 15% to 20% for the fiscal year 2008.

Dr. James Wang, CEO of China Direct, commented, "We are committed to our current plan of reaching manufacturing capacity of 40,000 to 50,000 tons of pure magnesium while distributing an additional 40,000 to 50,000 tons of magnesium in 2008. Our management team expects global demand for magnesium to increase substantially for the foreseeable future and we will continue to grow our magnesium operations to be a leading worldwide force in this industry."

Operated as an investment and consultancy firm, China Direct has interest in several zinc and magnesium projects in China and has helped a few small-sized Chinese firms to tap the U.S. capital markets. In August 2006, China Direct arranged to be acquired by Evolve One, a money-losing over-the-counter-listed company that developed Internet and direct retail marketing companies, in an all-stock deal. Upon completion of the deal, Evolve One changed its name to China Direct and moved up from the OTC Bulletin Board to the Amex on September 24 this year, after which its share price doubled in just ten days.

China Direct said its turnover skyrocketed 223 times to $40,452,970 in the second quarter ended June from $180,417 in the comparable quarter the previous year. The increase in revenues was primarily attributable to Chang Magnesium, Lang Chemical and CDI Wanda, the three Chinese entities acquired after October 2006.

Net income for the second quarter also increased, to $2,267,742, or $0.16 per share, compared with a net loss of $362,697, or $0.04 per share, for the second quarter of 2006. – Forbes

...
Read more...