China's Titanium Industry: Brilliant Achievements And Future Development Direction

Recently, at the titanium new material modern industrial chain co-chain action conference held in Chengdu, Luo Tiejun, vice president of the China Iron and Steel Association, pointed out that the Panxi region is rich in mineral resources and has 90% of the country's titanium resources, which is an important foundation for my country's titanium industry. With its excellent comprehensive performance, titanium has become a strategic new material widely used in key fields, with broad prospects.
The rise of the titanium industry
China's titanium industry started in the 1950s. After decades of development, it has become the world's largest titanium producer and consumer, and has built a complete industrial chain from "mining-metallurgy-processing-equipment manufacturing-engineering application". At present, nearly 700 titanium enterprises in the country have formed a modern industrial system through division of labor and cooperation, which has greatly enhanced my country's influence in the global titanium industry.
Li Zhen, general manager of Anshan Iron and Steel Group, introduced that my country's annual output of titanium has jumped from thousands of tons in the 1970s to 100,000 tons in 2021, accounting for 65% of the world's total output. Titanium metal is widely used in the fields of national economy and national defense modernization, such as nuclear power, deep-sea equipment, petrochemicals, and shipbuilding.
Four highlights of industrial achievements
1. Improved resource utilization efficiency
my country's ilmenite reserves account for 30.4% of the world's total, ranking first in the world. Through the establishment of the Panxi Strategic Resource Innovation and Development Experimental Zone, the comprehensive utilization rate of titanium resources has increased from 17% in 2013 to 35%, and the output of titanium concentrate has jumped to the first place in the world.
2. The initial formation of the industrial chain pattern
With Panxi as the core, Anshan Iron and Steel Group has built a complete titanium industry chain. At the same time, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places have also formed industrial clusters with local characteristics.
3. Significant upgrade of technical equipment
Through the integration of independent research and development and international advanced technology, my country has a series of internationally leading titanium metal manufacturing equipment, such as large VAR furnaces, high-power EB furnaces, high-precision rolling mills, etc., and the titanium smelting process has reached the world's advanced level.
4. Continuous expansion of application areas
With the improvement of scientific research, design and application systems, titanium metal has been widely used in nuclear power, marine engineering, petrochemical equipment and other fields. At the same time, the demand in high-end civilian fields such as construction, medical care, 3C and so on has gradually increased.
Challenges and gaps
Although my country's titanium metal industry has made remarkable achievements, it still faces many problems in the high-end field:
High external dependence: The external dependence of high-end titanium raw materials is as high as 70%, which restricts the security of the industrial chain.
Insufficient international competitiveness: The average price of exported titanium materials is much lower than that of imports, and the average export price in 2023 is only 1/3 of that of imports.
Imbalanced production capacity structure: Overcapacity at the smelting end, lagging expansion speed at the processing end, and some equipment is idle.
Limited application areas: In high-end civilian fields such as medical care and 3C, the application of titanium metal is not sufficient and cannot fully meet market demand.
Suggestions for future development
Against the background of global industrial chain reconstruction, the experts at the meeting put forward a number of suggestions for the development of my country's titanium metal industry:
1. Improve independent controllable capabilities
Accelerate breakthroughs in key core technologies, especially in the fields of titanium extraction from blast furnace slag and chlorinated slag processes, and reduce external dependence on high-end raw materials.
2. Optimize the coordination of the industrial chain
Establish a new development pattern of "large enterprises leading and small and medium-sized enterprises supporting", promote the coordinated development of the entire industrial chain, and rationally plan the layout of production capacity.
3. Expand the application field
Focus on promoting the application of titanium materials in high-end civilian markets such as construction, automobiles, 3C, etc., and resolve the problem of overcapacity.
4. Accelerate technological innovation
Strengthen the key shortcomings of the industry, improve the "development-production-service" full life cycle data system, and enhance the international competitiveness of high-end titanium materials.
5. Strengthen policy support
With the help of policy guidance, strengthen resource development and technological innovation support, and promote the formation of a complete ecological system from resource mining to high-end applications.
Looking to the future
Ansteel Group stated that it will take the lead in promoting the construction of a modern industrial chain of titanium metal new materials and unite industry forces to solve pain points. At the same time, continue to improve the level of independent resource security, strive to reduce the external dependence of titanium metal raw materials to below 40% by 2030, and achieve full independent control by 2035.
China's titanium metal industry has stood at a new starting point for development. By deepening technological innovation, strengthening resource guarantees, and optimizing industrial collaboration, my country's titanium metal industry is expected to move from a "big country" to a "strong country", injecting new impetus into the development of the global titanium industry.