Development Report on China Titanium Industry in 2010

WANG Xiangdong，LU Fusheng，JIA Hong，HAO Bin

(CTA，China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association，Beijing 100088，China)

Development Report on China Titanium Industry in 2010

WANG Xiangdong，LU Fusheng，JIA Hong，HAO Bin

(CTA，China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association，Beijing 100088，China)

The operational aspect of China titanium industry in 2010 was reviewed，and the manufacturing，imports and exports of China titanium industry were also introduced.Simultaneously，the price trend of titanium sponge and titanium mill products was analyzed.China titanium industry shown a rising state in 2010，the capacity of titanium sponge was over 100 000 t，the output was 57 770 t，41.6%over than that of 2009.The output of titanium mill products was 38 323 t，53.5%over than that of 2009.The titanium consumption in industries like chemical，aviation，metallurgy，vacuum salt making，and etc.，substantially increased in 2010，thus setting a new record for sales volume of China titanium products，35 636 t.Titanium consumption in chemical industry has been close to 20 000t，turning into the absolute first field in titanium consumption of China.We will grasp the opportunity in the next few years and try our utmost to promote application of titanium materials，for the purpose of greater development.

titanium sponge;titanium mill product;capacity;output;price

1 Operational aspects of China titanium industry 2010

1.1 Productive apacity and volume of production

1.1.1 Productive capacity

The productive capacity of sponge titanium and titanium mill products has been increasing till the year 2010.

According to statistics of 14 enterprises in production，the productive capacity of sponge titanium in China reached 103 500 t in 2010，24 000 t of which came from Zunyi Titanium Plant，accounting for 23.2%of the national capacity.The productive capacity has increased 30.0%compared with that in 2009.

Based on statistical data from 23 enterprises，the productive capacity of China titanium ingot reached 89 200 t in 2010，25 000 t of which came from Baoji Titanium Industry Co.，Ltd.，accounting for 28.0%of the national capacity.The productive capacity has increased 7.6%compared with that in 2009.

1.1.2 Volume of production

Sponge titaniumIn the year 2010，there are totally 14 enterprises engaged in sponge titanium production，volume of which detailed in Table 1.Total amount of sponge titanium production in China reached 57 770 t in the same year，increasing 41.6%compared with that in the previous year，and even 16.4%higher than that in 2008，the annual output of which has ever come to the peak.The volume of production of Zunyi Titanium Plant amounted to 14 248 t，accounting for 24.7%of the national output.The output of the preceding 7 enterprises listed in Table 1 has exceeded 3 000 t without exception，occupying 90% of the total amountin China.Production of sponge titanium has a tend-ency of integration by comparatively large enterprises.

Table 1 Output of China sponge titanium in 2010

Titanium ingotThe statistical data of 23 manufacturing enterprises show that the total volume of titanium ingot production in China is 46 262 t in 2010(see Table 2)，with an increase of 12.4% compared with that in the previous year.Among all the manufacturers，Baoji Titanium Industry Co.，Ltd.produced 20 000 t of titanium ingot，accounting for 43.2% of the national output;Western Metal Materials Co.，Ltd.and Western Superconducting Technologies Co.，Ltd.，shareholded by Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research，produced 2 376 t and 2 000 t of titanium ingot，respectively，occupying 9.5%of the total amount in China by their combined effort.

Titanium powderAccording to statistics of 5 enterprises，the output of China titanium powder in 2010 is 1 713t，with an increase of 36.6%compared with that of the previous year(see Table 3).

Titanium mill productsBased on statistical data from 33 manufacturing enterprises，the total output of titanium mill products of China in 2010 is 38 323 t，increasing 53.5%compared with that of the previous year，and even 38.2%higher than that in 2008，the annual output of which has ever come to the peak(shown in Table 4).

In 2010，the output of titanium mill products of Baoji Titanium Industry Co.，Ltd.reached 13 010 t，with an increase of 39.2%compared with that of the previous year，and it accounts for 33.9%of the national gross output.The volume ofproduction ofBaoshan Iron ＆ SteelCo.，Ltd.Special Steel Branch also broke through its low level and reached up to 1 934 t. Western Metal Materials Co.，Ltd.and Western Superconducting Technologies Co.，Ltd.，shareholded by Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research，manufactured 2 746 t and 1 267 t of titanium mill products，respectively，occupying 10.5% of the total amount in China by their combined effort.

Classifications of 2010 titanium mill products are shown in the statistical Table 5，from which we could see that all items of titanium products except for the remnant are of substantial increase.The growth rate of sheets is of the maximum，reaching 74.5%.

Table 2 Output of China titanium ingot in 2010

Table 3 Output of titanium powder of China in 2010

Titanium equipment manufacturingStatistics of 11 manufacturing enterprises show that the production value of China's major titanium equipment manufacturers amounted to 1 489.927 million Yuan，with an increase of 39.8%compared with the figure in 2009.Titanium consumption was 4 738.9t，increasing 40.7%;and the number of equipment was 1991，increasing 24.8%(detailed in Table 6).

Table 4 Output of China titanium mill products in 2010

Table 5 Group comparison of titanium mill products output in 2009 and 2010

Table 6 State of operation of China's major titanium equipment manufacturers in 2010

1.2 Foreign trade

Imports and exports of China titanium products in 2010 are shown in Table 7，and comparisons between the imports and exports in the first half year of 2010 and the annual volume are shown in Table 8.The total situation of China tianium products is better shown in Table.

Table 7 Imports and exports of China titanium products in 2010

Table 8 Comparisons between imports and exports in the first half year of 2010 and the annual volume

In 2010，the import，export and net export values for sponge titanium of China are 3 370.581 t，3 554.38 t and 183.799 t，respectively;and the corresponding values for titanium mill products are 6 133.515 t，7 551.3 t and 1 417.785 t，thus reversing the tide of net import in 2009.But the developing process shows a state of net import for sponge titanium in the first half of 2010，yet a decreasing state of import and an ascending state of export in the second half of 2010.Therefore，the annual mode still takes on net export.The annual imports and exports for titanium mill products are both buoyant in 2010.

Main types of imported titanium mill products in our country are still titanium welded tube and sheet.

From the imported and exported data，we could see that the overseas demand for sponge titanium began increasing in the second half of 2010，indicating the demanding recovery for titanium products in other countries.

1.3 Market and price

1.3.1 Sales volume

The inventory and net export of China sponge titanium production enterprises in 2010 are 2 286 t and 184 t，and the actual domestic sales volume is 57 770-2 286-184=55 300 t，which has increased 32.1%compared with that in 2009.

The inventory and net export of China titanium mill products in 2010 are 1 269 t and 1 418 t，and the actual domestic sales volume is:38 323-1 269-1 418=35 636 t，which has increased 52.9%compared with that in 2009.

1.3.2 Demand assignment

The sales volume of China Ti and Ti alloy mill products in different fields and their relevant proportions of 2010 are shown in Table 9 and Figure 1.In 2010，chemical industry was still the largest application field of titanium in China，setting a record of 19 718 t，which accounted for 53.2%of the national total consumption.Other major fields in titanium consumption are aerospace(9.7%)，sports and leisure(7.8%)，metallurgy(6.7%)，vacuum salt making(6.1%)，electrical(3.9%)，and medicine(2.9%)in turn.

Fig.1 Schematic drawing of relevant proportion for titanium consumption of China in 2010

1.3.3 Price

In 2010，the price of China main titanium products was slowly recovered，a slower ascending process pushed by cost(shown in Fig.2 and Fig.3).

2 Operational state analysis of titanium industry in 2010

2.1 Overall evaluation for operational state of China titanium industry in 2010

Under the regulation and control of the national macroeconomic policy，Chinese economy got sustainable，speedy and healthy development in 2010，and the international aviation industry also recovered from the second half of 2010.China's titanium industry has got obviously improved under the influence of these two factors.

Table 9 Sales volume of China main production enterprises for titanium mill products in different fields(t)

The output and sales volume of China sponge titanium set records of 57 770 t and 55 300 t respectively in 2010，increasing 41.6%and 32.1%compared with the data in the previous year.

The output and sales volume of titanium mill products also set records of 38 323 t and 35 636 t respectively，increasing 53.5%and 52.9%compared with the data in the previous year.

Compared with 2009，the imports of sponge titanium fall slightly(7.0%)and the exports reach 3 554.38 t，7.1 times as much as that of 2009.The net export volume of 2010 is 183.799 t.The imports and exports of titanium mill products still remain high(6 133.515 t of imports and 7 551.3 t of exports)，realizing an annual net export volume of 1 417.785 t.In 2010，China titanium industry reversed the trend of imports of both sponge titanium and titanium mill products in one stroke.Since China is not capable of producing enough titanium sheets and welded tubes，it is still necessary to import large quantities of these two products based on the data for main types of products imported.

The price of China sponge titanium and titanium mill products rose slowly in 2010，up to 6.5 ×104¥ /t to the end of the year from 5.8 ×104¥ /t at the beginning，increasing 12.1% .For titanium mill products(TA2 standard sheets，3.0 mm in thickness)，the price rose from 10 ×104¥ /t to 11.5 ×104¥ /t with an increase of 15.0%.Considering the rising price of raw materials(high titanium slag，titanium tetrachloride，metallic magnesium，etc.)and energy resources(such as electric power)，the price of titanium products is still around the cost line.Therefore，the operating margins of China titanium enterprises are not high.

2.2 Market analyzing

Motivated by the national macropolicy of domestic demand stimulation，titanium consumption in industries like chemical，aviation，metallurgy，vacuum salt making，and etc.，substantially increased in 2010，thus setting a new record for sales volume of China titanium products，35 636 t.Titanium consumption in chemical industry has been close to 20 000 t，turning into the absolute first field in titanium consumption of China.The recovery of the international aviation market has also provided beneficial conditions for titanium market.

Affected by inertia on the other hand，the capacity of China sponge titanium and titanium mill products has been climbing and the datum of the former one has broken through 10 ×104¥ /t，reaching 103 500 t.So the competitive market has resulted in slow rise of price，and this state will remain the same in a few years from now on.

2.3 Policy analyzingGenerally speaking，

China titanium industry of 2010 has made steady and rapid progress motivated by the national policy of domestic demand stimulation and“top-ten industrial adjustment plan”.Yet the sustainable growth is also a factor for price hikes，especially the American policy of“Quantitative Easing(QE)”，which intensifies the pressure caused by price rise of the raw materials from the outside，has brought on difficulties for enterprise operation to a certain degree.

In 2010，the Communist Party and the Government formulated the“Twelfth Five-Year Plan”and put forward the fundamental policies of‘energy-saving＆ emission reduction，industry upgrading，and growth mode transforming'.And all these are not only necessary and timely for long-tern and healthy industrial development，but also quite essential for harmonious development between human and society，human and nature.For titanium industry，the policies of‘industry upgrading and growth mode transforming'bring two opportunities.One is that the industry upgrading of the whole society will produce larger market for titanium products as new materials.The other is that the enterprise itself could find its foot in competition and gain much more progress only if it pays more attention to technological input and advance，steadily improves the quality of products，reduces energy use，and reduces discharge of‘three wastes'.

2.4 Opportunity analyzing

High demand and low price bring difficulties for operations of enterprises，and also create great opportunities for development of titanium industry at the same time.Low price and high properties of titanium has raised the cost performance of titanium materials，and the application of titanium materials under corrosion resistant environment in chemical industry has been further enlarged.These two may be the root cause of the largely increasing output and sales of China titanium materials in 2010.

We will grasp the opportunity in the next few years and try our utmost to promote application of titanium materials，for the purpose of greater development.

3 Technical advance

China titanium industry made sustainable and greater technical progress in 2010.

Under the support of the national‘863'program，Zunyi Titanium has made a breakthrough in research and development of electronic-grade high-purity titanium and 20 kg 4N5 high-purity titanium has been manufactured.

Sponge titanium project of Luoyang Shuangrui Wanji Titanium Industry has made significant progress，realizing whole process of production.Its capacity has been extended to 10 000 t/a，and its electric power consumption has been lowered to 26 000kW·h/t due to the adoption of new techniques such as multi-pole electrolyzer，etc.

The 1 400 mm titanium strip production line of Baoti Group Limited is in stage of installation，and 1 400 mm titanium strip project of Shanghai Baogang Group Special Steel Branch Company is in stage of debugging.

Electron-beam cold hearth melting furnace of Shanghai Baogang Group Special Steel Branch Company is in production，and plasma cold hearth furnace，in trial production.

High speed bar＆wire line of Baoti Group Limited has been put into production.

4 500 t hydraulic press machine of Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research has been put into use and large-size bars with diameter from 400 mm to 600 mm have been manufactured.

2 800 mm hot rolling mill+1 780 mm cold rolling mill of Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research have been put into use.

1 450 mm hot rolling mill+cold rolling mill of Luoyang Ship Material Research Institute has been put into use.

Scrap recycling line of Baoti Group Limited has been put into operation and about 3 000 t～4 000 t scraps could be recovered each year，thus bring great benefits for the enterprise.

4 Existing problems in China titanium industry and conclusion

In the‘Development Report on China Titanium Industry 2009'，we analyzed the imperfection of China titanium industry from five aspects，including insufficient industrial agglomeration，poor intrinsic and organic correlation between upstream and downstream enterprises，arduous task of energy saving and emission reduction in titanium smelting，incomplete techniques of titanium processing which fails to fully satisfy the demand of national economy development，and the quality of titanium enterprises which needs to be further improved.The above five problems are being solved gradually in 2010 but not yet completely removed，which have to be further perfected in future development(please refer to the《Development Report on China Titanium Industry 2009》).

Besides the above five，another problem which becomes more and more serious is the over investment of China titanium industry.The international financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 and output decrease of both sponge titanium and titanium mill products in 2009 have resulted in sharp decline of economic benefits and even zero profit of many enterprises.But huge investment in the past few years has promoted China's production capacity of sponge titanium and titanium ingot coming up to 103 500 t and 89 200 t in 2010，increasing by 30.0%and 7.6%respectively compared with that of the previous year.Excessive growth of production capacity will induce over competition and affect the healthy development of China titanium industry.

It is necessary for any an enterprise to make sufficient investigation and study，and give full attention to the capital risk，technical risk and market risk before investing in titanium industry.

赵永庆:男，1966年生，博士、教授、博导，国家钛合金973计划项目首席科学家，西北有色金属研究院副总工程师兼科研处处长，陕西省青年联合会常委;自1991年一直从事钛合金的研发，主持承担国家973、863、总装预研项目、军品配套项目、自然基金重点项目等50余项;获国家新世纪百千万人才、政府特殊津贴专家、陕西省有突出贡献专家、首届省科技劳模、国家军品协作配套先进个人等荣誉;获国家科技进步奖1项、省部级科技一等奖4项、省部级二等奖8项;获授权专利26项，发表论文500余篇，编著《钛合金及应用》、《钛合金图谱》、《钛合金相变与热处理》等专著3本，参与编写专著5本。

杨 合:男，1962年生，教授、博导，2003年受聘长江学者特聘教授;国家杰出青年基金获得者(2002年)，入选国家首批“新世纪百千万人才工程”(2004年);1990年哈工大博士毕业，1992年西工大博士后出站破格晋升教授，1994年被评为博士生导师;国家“985”工程一级科技创新平台精确塑性成形团队学术带头人，国家基金委机械学科“十二五”规划“高性能精确成形制造”领域负责人，国家基金委学科评审专家组专家，中国塑性工程学会副理事长，材料成形与模具技术国家重点实验室学术委员会副主任，金属材料挤压/锻造国家重点实验室学术委员会委员，国家重大专项“高档数控机床与基础制造装备”评审专家;《塑性工程学报》副主编，《航空学报》(中英文版)编委;主持国家自然科学基金、973、863等项目45项;获国家发明奖、国家及省部级科技进步奖8项，获ICTP“六佳论文奖”，JMPT十佳审稿人，获教育部“高校青年教师奖”、中国机械工程学会青年科技成就奖等;享受国务院颁发的政府特殊津贴;发表论文300多篇，SCI收录100多篇，特邀报告及SCI等他引400多次，获国家发明专利5项。

王向东:男，1955年生，中国有色金属工业协会钛锆铪分会副会长兼秘书长，教授，北京有色金属研究总院和昆明理工大学兼职教授;1998年以前，一直在北京有色金属研究总院从事钽铌冶金研究，在高比容电容器级钽粉的研制方面获得多项部级科技进步奖，在电容器级钽粉的掺杂机理研究方面多有建树，发表了系列论文;自1998年以来一直从事钛行业的宏观运营、发展对策以及需求预测等方面的探索研究。

黄 旭:男，1968年生，研究员;1998年

2010年中国钛工业发展报告

王向东，逯福生，贾 翃，郝 斌
(中国有色金属工业协会钛锆铪分会，北京 100088)

回顾了2010年中国钛工业的运行情况，介绍了中国钛工业的生产和进出口情况，分析了海绵钛和钛加工材的价格走势。2010年中国钛工业呈明显回升状态，海绵钛产能突破10万t，产量达到57 770 t，与2009年相比增长41.6%;钛加工材产量达到38 323 t，与2009年相比增长53.5%。2010年，中国化工、航空航天、冶金、真空制盐等行业用钛大幅增长，从而使中国钛制品的销售量达到创记录的35 636t。特别是化工用钛量已近2万t，成为中国用钛的绝对第一大领域。应更好地把钛材的应用推广工作做好，迎来行业的更大发展。

海绵钛;钛加工材;产能;产量;价格

TG146.2+3

A

1674-3962(2011)06-0014-07

date:2011-04-20

Biography:Wang Xiangdong，Professor