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New Report for 2019:
The Titanium Age: Markets, Opportunities, and New Technologies

Thintri, Inc. announces the release of a new market study, The Titanium Age: Markets, Opportunities and New Technologies. This report, the fourth version of Thintri’s initial titanium study analyzes current markets in titanium, pricing and supply issues in a range of titanium products like scrap, sponge, ingot, plate, etc., and effects of current economic, supply and demand conditions. The report also discusses emerging market opportunities through the maturing of technologies that promise to reduce the cost of titanium extraction, manufacturing, machining and welding. Forecasts are provided for both traditional and potential new titanium markets in a number of key sectors.   

Today’s Titanium Industry

• Background
• Today’s titanium industry – demand drivers
  • Aerospace
  • General industry, chemical processing, etc.
    • Corrosion resistance
    • Heat exchange
    • Aluminum and steel production
  • Medical Markets
    • Orthopedic Devices
      • Implants
      • Trauma fixation
    • Surgical instruments
  • Consumer markets
  • Automotive markets
  • Others
• Today’s titanium industry – the supply side
  • Capacity
    • Supply and price dynamics
    • Pre-melt, melt and mill products
  • Effects of demand drivers
  • Effects of supply issues
  • Effects on new markets
  • Industry contracts, price negotiations

Cost Issues, Lead Times, Today’s Market Outlook

• Price behavior
  • History
  • Prices today
  • Forecasts
• Global Demand
• Lead times

Commercialization of Low Cost Titanium Processes

• Raw material issues
• Composition and alloying
• Quality, purity and performance
• Powder metallurgy
• Manufacturing cost reduction methods
  • Fabrication
  • Machining
  • Welding
• Commercialization
• Effect of a new, low cost player

Market opportunities and latent demand for low cost titanium

• Automotive
  • Cars
  • Trucks
  • Regulation and fuel economy
  • Economics
• General industry
  • Chemical processing
  • Oil & gas
  • Mining
  • Energy & power
  • Pulp and paper
• Aerospace
• Defense
  • Vehicle armor
  • Non-vehicle armor
  • Fuel economy
  • Naval applications
• Medical
• Consumer
• Architecture and construction

Background

Titanium, an abundant resource with enormous potential in a large number of markets, has been hobbled by high costs, unstable volatile prices, processing difficulties, supply issues and industry-wide inefficiencies.

Titanium has the highest strength-to-density ratio of any metal, is essentially nonmagnetic, and is highly resistant to corrosion, even in hostile environments like salt water. Furthermore, it is highly biocompatible. Titanium has become well established in aerospace, trucks and heavy vehicles, medicine, chemical processing and general industry.

In recent years titanium suppliers have worked hard to bring the benefits of titanium to new applications, but just as new markets for titanium have opened up, the supply of titanium has fluctuated considerably, with notable effects on prices. Much of the constricting of supply was attributable to sharply rising aerospace demand as well as greater use in steel production, which reduced the supply of available scrap. These factors have led, in the past, led to extraordinary runups in prices, where some more than doubled in a single year, and some users were simply unable to obtain the titanium they needed. The volatility dampened enthusiasm for titanium in new markets where it could offer substantial long term cost savings and the instability often made it impossible to cultivate new markets.

In the last decade, suppliers of titanium sponge and other products rapidly expanded their output, only to see demand and prices drop with the recession. Today, after several years of sluggish demand for many commodities, titanium is rebounding and as the aerospace sector has worked through its stockpiled titanium, demand has been restored to reasonably healthy levels as capacity for most products has levelled off. Emerging markets, particularly medical, are even outpacing traditional markets.

Throughout all this, a number of low cost processing and manufacturing technologies have continued development that promise titanium (commercially pure and alloyed), potentially at greatly reduced cost. These processes, some of which are already commercialized, will significantly reduce costs in extraction, machining, welding and manufacture of titanium, while relieving supply issues that have plagued users in the past.

The promise of supply stability and lower prices can be expected to create an opening whereby new markets can be captured, bringing titanium to a broad range of new applications. Low cost production processes could provide a substantial investment opportunity.

Understand the Markets

Thintri’s new market study analyzes the current state of traditional titanium markets and current economic conditions. The effects of emerging low cost titanium processes and the market forces that will determine the future of the industry are investigated in detail. New and sometimes unexpected market opportunities are analyzed and forecasts are provided for both traditional markets, some of them unaffected by low cost processes, and new market opportunities created by low cost titanium.

The report is based on more than 100 in-depth interviews with experts from industry, Government and academia, as well as a broad range of published materials.

The Titanium Industry, Markets and Forecasts

Titanium, raw materials production

Demand Drivers

Supply Side - Capacity 

Current and Historical Prices, Forecasts

Market segments:

• Aerospace
  • Engines
  • Airframe
  • New aircraft
• Industrial
  • Chemical processing
  • Power generation
  • Desalinization
  • Automotive
    • Cars
    • Trucks and heavy vehicles
• Medical
  • Implants
  • Surgical instruments
• Military
  • Aerospace
  • Marine
  • Land-based
• Consumer

Emerging Markets and Latent Demand

• Effect of new processes
  • Extraction (Armstrong, MER, etc.)
  • Fabrication
  • Manufacture
  • Welding
  • Machining
• Aerospace markets
• Automotive markets
• Industrial markets
• Medical
• Consumer

Order today
#LCT4—The Titanium Age: Markets, Opportunities, and New Technologies

Price: $4200

(914) 242-4615

Report Contents

Executive Summary      1

E1 Introduction      1
E2 Background: Titanium      2
E3 The Titanium Industry Today      3
E4 Supply and Capacity Issues      4
     Figure ES-1 Sponge Capacity by Country      4
     Figure ES-2 Commercial Aircraft Deliveries, Passenger      5
     Figure ES-3 Titanium Use by Aircraft Type      6
E5 Price Trends      6
     Figure ES- 4 Sample Plate Price Trends, Alloy Plate      7
E6 Demand Outlook      7
     Figure ES-5 Global Metallic Titanium Demand, Conventional Forecast      8
     Figure ES-6 Global Titanium Demand by Market, Conventional Forecast, Industrial, Medical      and Consumer Sectors      9
E7 Commercialization of Low Cost Titanium Processes      9
E8 Effect of a New Low-Cost Player      10
E9 Latent Demand      11
     Figure ES-7 Global Automotive Latent Demand      12
     Figure ES-8 Global Latent Defense Demand, Armor      13
     Figure ES-9 Global Industrial Latent Demand      14

Part I Background on Titanium      15

1.1 Overview      15
1.2 Titanium in Industry      16
     Figure 1-1 Shares by Weight, Metallic Titanium versus Titanium in Pigment      17
1.3 History      17
1.4 Titanium Production      18
1.5 Issues with Titanium      18

Part II Industry Landscape      20

2.1 The Demand Side     20
     Table 2-1 Current Titanium Markets      20
     2.1.1 The Aerospace Sector      20
          2.1.1.1 Titanium Deployment in Aircraft      21
          2.1.1.2 The Evolving Aerospace Market      22
          2.1.1.3 Regulations and Certification      24
     2.1.2 Industry, Chemical Processing, etc.      25
     2.1.2.1 Industrial Markets      25
     Figure 2-1 Industrial Titanium Markets      26
     2.1.3 Medical Applications      28
     2.1.4 Consumer Markets      31
     2.1.5 Automotive Applications      32
     2.1.5.1 Passenger Cars      33
     Table 2-2 Commercial Automobile Titanium Components      34
          2.1.5.2 Trucks and Heavy Vehicles      35
2.2 The Supply Side      36
     2.2.1 Titanium Supply, Demand and Price Dynamics      36
     2.2.2 Pre-Melt: Sponge and Scrap      38
          2.2.2.1 Sponge      38
     Figure 2-2 Sponge Capacity Growth by Country      40
     Figure 2-3 Sponge Capacity Trends, US vs. Global      42
          2.2.2.2 Scrap      42
     Figure 2-4 Scrap Availability Trends      44
     2.2.3 Melt Products      46
     Figure 2-5 Melt Product Capacity Trends      47
     2.2.4 Mill Products      47
     Figure 2-6 Mill Product Capacity Trends      48
     Figure 2-7 Mill Product Demand Trends      49
     2.2.5 Capacity Today      50
2.3 Demand Drivers, Effects on Prices      52
     2.3.1 The Aerospace Factor      52
     Figure 2-8 Titanium Use per Craft, by Aircraft Type      54
     Figure 2-9 Commercial Aircraft Deliveries, Passenger      55
     Figure 2-10 Commercial Aircraft Deliveries, Freight      56
     2.3.2 Other Factors in Supply      56
     2.3.3 The Effect on New Markets      57
2.4 Industry Contracts, Agreements and Price Negotiations      59

Part III Cost Issues, Lead Times and Today’s Market Outlook      64

3.1 Effects of Price Volatility and Industry Structure      64
3.2 Price Behavior and Forecasts      65
     3.2.1 Sponge      66
     Figure 3-1 Sponge Price Trends      66
     3.2.2 Scrap      66
     Figure 3-2 Scrap Price Trends, Turnings      68
     Figure 3-3 Scrap Price Trends, Bulk Weldable      68
     Figure 3-4 Scrap Price Trends, Clips      69
     Figure 3-5 Scrap Price Trends, Ferro-Titanium      69
     3.2.3 Melt Products      70
          3.2.3.1 Slab      70
     Figure 3-6 Slab Price Trends      70
          3.2.3.2 Ingot      70
     Figure 3-7 Ingot Price Trends      71
          3.2.3.3 Plate      71
     Figure 3-8 Plate Price Trends, B265 CP      72
     Figure 3-9 Plate Price Trends, 4911 Alloy      73
     Figure 3-10 Toll Rolling Price Trends, B265 CP and 4911 Alloy Plate      74
3.3 Today’s Market Outlook      75
     3.3.1 Post-Recession Factors      75
     3.3.2 Recovery of the Titanium Industry      76
     Figure 3-11 Global Metallic Titanium Demand, Conventional Forecast      77
     Figure 3-12 Global Titanium Demand by Market, Conventional Forecast, Industrial, Medical      and Consumer Sectors      78
     Figure 3-13 Global Titanium Demand by Market, Conventional Forecast, Commercial      Aerospace, Military Aerospace and Military Non-aerospace Sectors      79
3.4 Lead Times      80
3.5 Effects of Trade Wars, Sanctions, etc.      81

Part IV Commercialization of Low-Cost Titanium      83

4.1 Introduction      83
4.2 Raw Material Issues      84
4.3 Composition and Alloying      84
4.4 Quality, Purity, Performance      85
4.5 Ore-To-Metal Processes      85
     4.5.1 MER/DuPont      86
     4.5.2 Rio Tinto      86
     4.5.3 UTRS, Inc.      87
4.6 The Powder Advantage      88
     4.6.1 Introduction      88
     4.6.2 MMS-Scanpac      91
     4.6.3 University of Utah      91
     4.6.4 ADMA Products 91
     4.6.5 ITP/Cristal Metals      92
     4.6.6 Metalysis      93
     4.6.7 Oak Ridge/Boeing      95
     4.6.8 Powder Applications, Demand & Pricing      95
     4.6.9 MIM      100
     4.6.10 3-D Printing/Additive Manufacturing      100
4.7 Manufacture & Fabrication      102
     4.7.1 American Titanium Works     102
     4.7.2 Ti Squared Technologies      103
4.8 Machining      104
4.9 Welding      107
4.10 Titanium Process Commercialization      108
4.11 Effect of a New, Low-Cost Player      110

Part V Latent Demand and Market Opportunities      113

5.1 Current Market Outlook: Conventional and Latent Demand      113
     Figure 5-1 Overall Global Latent Titanium Deman      116
     5.2 Consumer Markets      118
     5.2.1 Established Consumer Applications      119
          5.2.1.1 Sporting Goods      119
          5.2.1.2 Jewelry      120
          5.2.1.3 Architecture      121
     Table 5-1 Titanium Tiles at the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain      122
          5.2.1.4 Marine Markets      123
          5.2.1.5 Price and Supply Issues      124
          5.2.1.6 Latent Consumer Demand      124
     Figure 5-2 Global Latent Demand, Consumer Markets, Non-Automotive      125
5.3 Automotive Markets      125
     5.3.1 Trucks and Commercial Vehicles      127
          5.3.1.1 Turbocharger Compressor Wheels      129
          5.3.1.2 Valve Train      129
          5.3.1.3 Connecting Rods      129
          5.3.1.4 Exhaust Systems      130
          5.3.1.5 Suspensions      130
     5.3.2 Opportunities in Mass Market Autos      130
     Table 5-2 Existing and Potential Titanium Automotive Applications      131
          5.3.2.1 Valve Train, Valves, Valve Springs      131
          5.3.2.2 Connecting Rods      133
          5.3.2.3 Exhaust Systems      136
          5.3.2.4 Suspensions      137
     5.3.3 Racing, Motorcycles and Other Small Vehicles      138
     5.3.4 Regulations and Fuel Economy      139
     5.3.5 Economics      139
     5.3.6 Latent Automotive Demand      141
     Figure 5-3 Global Latent Demand, Automotive Markets      143
5.4 General Industry, Oil & Gas, Mining, etc.      143
     5.4.1 Chemical Processing, Pharmaceuticals, etc.      144
     5.4.2 Oil & Gas, Mining      146
     5.4.3 Power Generation      148
     5.4.4 Pulp & Paper      148
     5.4.5 Desalination      149
     5.4.6 Latent Industrial Demand      149
     Figure 5-4 Global Latent Demand, Industrial Markets      150
5.5 Aerospace      151
     Figure 5-5 Commercial Aerospace Latent Demand      152
5.6 Defense      153
     5.6.1 Armor      154
          5.6.1.1 Armoring Vehicles     154
          5.6.1.2 Non-Vehicle Armor      155
          5.6.1.3 Fuel Economy      156
          5.6.1.4 Procurement Issues      157
     5.6.2 Naval Applications     157
     5.6.3 Latent Defense Demand      159
     Figure 5-6 Global Latent Demand, Defense, Armor      160
     Figure 5-7 Global Latent Demand, Defense, Other     161
5.7 Medical Markets      161
     5.7.1 Orthopedic Devices: Implants, Trauma Fixtures, etc.      161
     5.7.2 Surgical Instruments      163
     5.7.3 Latent Medical Demand      166
     Figure 5-8 Global Latent Demand, Medical Implants      167
     Figure 5-9 Global Latent Demand, Surgical Instruments      167

Appendix A Glossary of Terms 168
Appendix B Professional Biography 170