In 2024, China’s titanium industry will maintain an overall stable development trend. The production of titanium products continues to grow, the titanium industry presents a centralized development, the consumption of titanium materials shows industry differentiation, and import and export trade continues to grow. “At the recently held 2025 Titanium Zirconium Hafnium Vanadium Branch Annual Meeting and Titanium Valley Industry Development Conference, Ge Honglin, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said.
The data shows that from January to February this year, the titanium industry showed a steady and progressive production trend. The production of titanium concentrate was 1.887 million tons, the import volume was 879000 tons, and the consumption volume was 2.165 million tons, with year-on-year increases of 3.6%, 26.2%, and 4.5%, respectively. Sponge titanium production was 41000 tons, export volume was 1000 tons, and consumption was 40900 tons, with year-on-year growth of 12.8%, 28.6%, and 11.7%, respectively.
Titanium is a key material in the aerospace, marine engineering, medical, and 3C (computer, communication, and consumer electronics) industries. In terms of industrial development scale, in 2024, China’s sponge titanium production will be 256000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%, with a self-sufficiency rate close to 100%; The production of titanium materials is about 170000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 7%, accounting for 65% of the global total. China has become the world’s largest producer and consumer of titanium materials. In terms of product transformation and upgrading, the consumption of titanium materials in 2024 is about 150000 tons, and the application structure is still mainly in the chemical and aerospace fields. The usage in the 3C industry continues to increase. China needs to develop more new products to meet the urgent demand for high-performance titanium alloys in the country’s high-end manufacturing industry.
The titanium industry has demonstrated strong resilience and enormous potential in resource security, technological innovation, and expanding application markets, and has established a complete industrial chain system. The level of technical equipment continues to improve, the industry scale continues to grow, and the application fields continue to expand, but it still faces development challenges, “said De Bing, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee, Vice President, and Secretary General of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
From the perspective of technological upgrading, in the melting process of titanium products, it is necessary to upgrade more advanced melting technology, improve the quality and performance of titanium alloys, and provide higher quality materials for high-end application fields. In terms of processing technology, it is necessary to upgrade the application of advanced processes such as additive manufacturing, superplastic forming, and precision forging to achieve near net forming of complex structural components.
From the perspective of the efficiency of the titanium industry, enterprises in the entire industry chain and high-end enterprises deeply involved in segmented fields can maintain positive development based on their respective advantages, but semi process and small and medium-sized enterprises face relatively difficult operations and poor profit stability. In addition, the production capacity of sponge titanium and titanium processing materials has significantly increased, and the mismatch between supply and demand has led to intensified competition in the “inward rolling” mode, resulting in further reductions in the prices of titanium finished products.
While reducing redundant construction, inefficient expansion, and price competition in the industry, the titanium industry needs to further vertically integrate, achieve optimized resource allocation, and upgrade industrial efficiency. Ge Honglin believes that we should accelerate the integration and optimization of innovation resources, strengthen the coordination between government, industry, academia, research, and application, while making good use of policies and strengthening basic research, strengthen applied technology research, accelerate the transformation of innovation achievements, and promote the comprehensive upgrading and transformation of technology, processes, and equipment in all links of the industrial chain.
To accelerate the pace of innovation, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation between upstream and downstream enterprises, jointly build platforms, establish collaborative research and development mechanisms, and promote the innovative layout of titanium materials in related fields. “An Zhongsheng, Vice President and Secretary General of the Titanium Zirconium Hafnium Vanadium Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, suggested promoting the application of titanium materials in building decoration, such as titanium alloy roofs, curtain walls, etc., in the field of construction, to improve the quality and durability of buildings. In the automotive field, exploring the application of titanium materials in automotive components such as engine parts and body structural components can help reduce vehicle weight, improve fuel efficiency and performance. In the field of energy, actively developing the application of titanium materials in hydrogen fuel cells and water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment, such as titanium bipolar plates, electrolytic cells, etc., to promote the rapid development of the new energy industry and accelerate the application of titanium materials in the energy field.
The high-quality development of the titanium industry requires standardization construction. As of the end of 2024, China has issued a total of 161 standards related to the titanium industry, including 84 national standards. Zhao Yongshan, Secretary General of the National Nonferrous Metals Standardization Technical Committee, believes that standardization is the engine for the development of the titanium industry and the core force for high-quality development of the titanium industry. Based on the current situation of “diversified industrial applications, increased high-end demand, stage overcapacity, and low-quality and low-priced competition” in the titanium industry, we should focus on standardizing technical paths, reducing collaboration costs, clarifying upgrading directions, and give full play to the leading role of standardization in high-end, green, intelligent and other aspects, leading the transformation and upgrading of the titanium industry. (Reporter Cui Guoqiang)