The production of titanium alloys involves complex smelting technology and challenging processing. Currently, only four countries possess complete industrial production technology for titanium: the United States, Russia, Japan, and China. In the titanium industry chain, the upstream sector focuses on producing titanium sponge. This is achieved by extracting natural titanium ore, primarily rutile and ilmenite, and obtaining natural rutile concentrate and ilmenite concentrate through beneficiation and enrichment processes. Sponge titanium is then produced through processes such as magnesium reduction.
In China, major manufacturers of sponge titanium include Baotihuashan, Chaoyang Jinda, Shuangruiwanji, Guizhou Zun Titanium, Chaoyang Baisheng, Longbai Group, Pangang Titanium Industry, and Xinjiang Xiangsheng. The middle section of the industry chain is responsible for producing titanium and titanium alloy forgings. The production process involves casting and pressure processing stages. Casting involves complex and diverse raw material inputs, while the production of ingot billets is relatively straightforward. In the pressure processing stage, the raw material inputs (billets) are simpler, and the final products include sheets, bars, forgings, pipes, strips, profiles, foils, and wires.
Among the various titanium materials produced in China, plates have the highest output, followed by bars. In 2020, the domestic output of titanium alloy plates, bars, pipes, wires, forgings, and castings accounted for 59%, 16%, 10%, 1%, 6%, and 1%, respectively.
According to statistics from the Titanium, Zirconium, and Hafnium Branch of the China Non-ferrous Metal Industry Association, there are over 30 domestic titanium production enterprises, with around 20 of them operating in the aerospace field. In the aerospace sector, there is a high concentration of titanium industry. In 2020, the top three domestic enterprises accounted for 60% of the total titanium sales volume, while the top five enterprises accounted for 72%. Key domestic enterprises producing titanium alloy materials for aerospace include West Superconductor, Baoti, West Materials, Jintian Titanium Industry, Aviation Materials Institute, Baowu Metallurgical, and Tiancheng Aviation Materials.
Titanium alloy forgings are manufactured using different processes such as die forging, ring rolling, and investment casting, depending on the structural part requirements. Triangle Defense, Hongyuan, and Erzhong Wanhang are domestic enterprises capable of producing titanium alloy die forgings. Enterprises under AVIC, such as Anda, Parker New Material, and Hangyu Technology, can produce titanium ring forgings. The titanium casting division of the Beijing Aeronautical Material Research Institute, Anji Precision Casting, Baoti Shares, Shuangrui Precision Casting affiliated with CSS725, the Metal Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Shenyang Casting Institute have the capacity to produce titanium alloy castings.
Forging manufacturing enterprises procure titanium materials and titanium ingots as raw materials for producing titanium materials. For example, Hangyu Technology purchased 143 million yuan worth of titanium alloy in 2020, including 75.65 million yuan from Baoti and 16.53 million yuan from Western Superconductor. Downstream in the industrial chain, the production of titanium alloy finished structural parts involves precision forging, machining, surface treatment, and other processes. In the aerospace titanium alloy products sector, major manufacturers of structural parts include Aleda, Airasia Technology, and aviation engine factories.
China's titanium resources primarily consist of ilmenite, with a small amount of rutile. According to the 2017 China Statistical Yearbook released by the National Bureau of Statistics, titanium resources in China are mainly concentrated in Sichuan, with smaller amounts distributed in Hubei, Shandong, Hebei, Xinjiang, and other regions. The reserves of ilmenite in Sichuan account for 90% of China's total ilmenite reserves.
China is both a major producer and consumer of titanium concentrate. In 2020, China produced 6.33 million tons of titanium concentrate, with the Panxi region accounting for 5.11 million tons. China's ilmenite production accounted for 37% of the global total in 2021, according to the US Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022 report.
The utilization of titanium iron concentrate can be achieved through two main methods. The first method involves using electric furnace smelting or hydrochloric acid leaching to obtain acid-soluble titanium-rich material from the iron concentrate, which is then used to produce titanium dioxide and titanium sponge through sulfuric acid production. The second method involves enriching titanium concentrate to create high titanium slag or artificial rutile, which can then be processed into refined titanium tetrachloride through chlorination, impurity removal, and other steps. Fine titanium tetrachloride can be produced through the gas-phase oxidation of titanium dioxide or through magnesium reduction-vacuum distillation of titanium sponge. Most titaniumI apologize, but I don't have access to up-to-date information on specific titanium alloy production in China or other countries beyond my knowledge cutoff in September 2021. It's possible that there have been developments or changes in the industry since then. I recommend consulting recent industry reports, government publications, or contacting industry organizations and manufacturers for the most current information on titanium alloy production in China.
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