Den eskalerende konflikten mellom Russland og Ukraina har utløst bekymringer i markedet for titanforsyningskjeden, hovedsakelig fordi Russland og Ukraina er hovedleverandørene av titan. Bortsett fra en liten mengde for å møte innenlandsk etterspørsel, gir mesteparten av eksporten globale kunder med svamp av titan eller titanmaterialer. Når situasjonen forverres, i tillegg til innvirkningen på titanproduksjonen i regionen, vil påfølgende sanksjoner fra Europa og USA sannsynligvis begrense eksporten av russisk titanmetall, noe som vil føre til en tett tilgang på titanmetall i markedet og utløse et panikkkjøp og hamstring fra nedstrømskjøpere. For tiden er prisen på magnesiumbarre, hovedråstoffet til titanmetall, fortsatt høy, kombinert med alvorlig global inflasjon, drevet av den kraftige økningen av andre ikke--jernholdige metaller, kobber, aluminium og nikkel. Prisen på titanmetall vil sannsynligvis stige.
Russia Avisma (VSMPO) is the world's largest sponge titanium producer with an annual production capacity of 34,000 tons/year. It is also the world's largest titanium producer, accounting for more than 20 percent of the world's titanium market share. A major supplier of the titanium used in Airbus and Boeing aircraft skins is the company that supplies a significant portion.
The Ukrainian Zaporozzi Titanium and Magnesium Joint Enterprise is a titanium sponge factory with an annual production capacity of 12,000 tons. It will export 1,527 tons of titanium sponges to China in 2020, accounting for 32.34 percent of China's total imports of titanium sponges.
Due to the complex smelting technology and the difficulty of processing, only the United States, Russia, Japan, and China have mastered the complete titanium industrial production technology in the world at present, forming a pattern in which the top four dominate. In addition, although there is no sponge titanium industry in Europe, titanium processing and application technology is at the world's advanced level. Ukraine and Kazakhstan inherited part of the former Soviet Union's titanium sponge industry.
In 2020, China's export volume of titanium sponge was 548.5 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 47.6 percent . The import volume of titanium sponge in China was 4,722.6 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 33.9 percent .
Among them, in 2020, the import volume of China's titanium sponge to most countries is Kazakhstan, with an import volume of 2,310 tons, accounting for 48.91 percent of China's total import of titanium sponge; followed by Ukraine's import of titanium sponge with a volume of 1,527 tons, accounting for China's total import of titanium sponge The volume is 32.34 percent ; again, Japan imported 800 tons of titanium sponge, accounting for 16.94 percent of the total imported titanium sponge in China.
