Xi'an's Future: A Thousand Splendid Titanium
Many are not familiar with "titanium."
Imagine this scenario: After a busy day at work, you decide to treat yourself by cooking a meal. Holding a titanium alloy wok that's much lighter than an iron one, you feel like a master chef, confidently flipping the food...
Titanium is making its way into our lives with its impressive performance. For example, the titanium-framed glasses we wear, the titanium alloy smartphones we use, are all so light! Or consider titanium alloy fishing rods and badminton rackets, which are not only lightweight but also strong, instantly turning us into "athletic masters."
Currently, the titanium and titanium alloy industry chain is one of the key industrial chains in Shaanxi Province and Xi'an City. Xi'an is vigorously developing new material industries and building a strong industrial city, with titanium being an important part of it.
Let's get to know "titanium" better.
Titanium is known as the "space metal" and the "ocean metal," and it is an important strategic metal material for the 21st century.
Walking into the production line of Western Metal Materials Co., Ltd., buckets of light gray titanium sponge are being smelted into titanium ingots, then forged and rolled into various plates, pipes, and other materials.
According to the company's relevant person in charge, one of titanium's advantages is that it is as strong as steel but 45% lighter in weight. With its lightweight, high strength, resistance to high and low temperatures, and resistance to strong acids and bases, titanium has become an important manufacturing material for many major national projects, from the "Shenzhou" spacecraft to the "Chang'e" lunar missions, and the "Striver" deep-sea exploration... It has played a role in all these grand endeavors.
Titanium is also a non-toxic element with antibacterial and biocompatible properties, which does not affect human autonomic and taste nerves. Therefore, it has become an ideal material for medical implants, used to make various implants such as hip joints, dentures, and crowns, achieving good clinical results.
Titanium and titanium alloy products have also "flown" into the homes of ordinary people. Perhaps you can find "titanium" in your tea cups and tableware.
Titanium Metal Products
Shaanxi is a major province for the titanium industry, the largest production base for titanium and titanium alloy in the country, and the province with the most specifications and brands of titanium products in the country. The industry scale has long maintained a leading position domestically, and the scale of titanium metal processing industry is the largest in the world.
Data shows that in 2023, the province's titanium processing volume was about 100,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 13.6%, accounting for 60% of the total processing volume in China and 45% globally, achieving an output value of over 80 billion yuan.
When it comes to titanium, many people first think of Baoji. In fact, Xi'an and Baoji each have their own strengths in the titanium and titanium alloy industry "track."
It is worth noting that this year's "Shaanxi Province Cultivates a Trillion-Level Titanium and Titanium Alloy Industry Innovation Cluster Action Plan" proposes to strive for a titanium processing scale of 110,000 tons by 2025, with a domestic market share of over 65%, forming an international first-class titanium and titanium alloy material industry cluster with an annual output value of over 100 billion yuan, consisting of the Xi'an and Baoji sectors. It also proposes to actively promote the construction of innovation platforms, relying on Xi'an Jiaotong University, Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, and other universities, research institutes, and leading enterprises.
Why "Xi'an + Baoji"?
From the perspective of industry location, the upstream of the titanium and titanium alloy industry chain is the mining, separation, and primary smelting of titanium ore resources, the middle stream is the melting and casting of titanium sponge and the processing of titanium materials, and the downstream is the deep processing and application of titanium materials.
A relevant person from the Xi'an Industry and Information Technology Bureau introduced that Xi'an's titanium and titanium alloy industry chain enterprises are mostly concentrated in the melting and processing links, belonging to the middle stream of the industry, leading domestically in technology, equipment, and scale. In 2023, the total output value of Xi'an's titanium and titanium alloy industry chain reached 15.5 billion yuan, an increase of about 12.3% compared to 2022.
The advantages of Xi'an in developing the titanium and titanium alloy industry lie in -
Leveraging "strengths" to build groups horizontally. At present, Xi'an has formed an industry group of middle stream enterprises for titanium and titanium alloy cold and hot working, welding, machining, and near-net shape machining, with Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research (including Western Materials and Western Superconducting) as the industry leader.
The industrial cluster extends the chain vertically. Xi'an actively integrates into the province's large industrial chain, continuously expanding the downstream enterprise group led by AVIC Xi'an Aero-Engine Company, initially forming a vertical industrial chain from "titanium ingot - titanium processing materials - titanium alloy materials - titanium composite materials - deep-processed titanium products - titanium and titanium alloy equipment," as well as a service chain for the industry, including "technology research and development, technology transfer, professional incubation, titanium material trading, and other social intermediary services," with obvious industrial cluster advantages.
Innovation in scientific research is making a dash for the lead. In terms of high-end titanium materials and processing technology, two companies, Xi'an Tianli and Xi'an Saisi Mai, have been rated as provincial enterprise technology centers; the National Engineering Research Center for Nonferrous Metal Materials Processing (Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research) has been selected as a new sequence national engineering research center; a cluster of high-level scientific research talents has gathered at universities represented by Northwestern Polytechnical University and Xi'an Jiaotong University, which are engaged in titanium industry research and teaching, achieving a series of key core technology research results.
The global first 3.6-meter diameter cathode roll and foil integrated machine developed by Xi'an Taijin New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. marks China as the first country to master this core technology...
Titanium Alloy New Material Research and Development
The rudder of industrial development is deeply rooted in the sea of market demand. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the international titanium market will see significant development, and the demand for titanium will continue to grow rapidly.
The "Xi'an Modern Industrial Layout Plan" and the "Xi'an '14th Five-Year Plan' Strategic Emerging Industries Development Plan (2021-2025)" have identified the new material industry, including the titanium and titanium alloy industry, as one of the key industries in the city, proposing to accelerate the layout in cutting-edge new material fields such as non-ferrous metal materials, enhancing the support capacity of the new material industry for the development of strategic emerging industries.
Titanium Fiber Felt Filtration System Production Line
How can Xi'an leverage its strengths to create an international first-class titanium and titanium alloy industrial cluster and carve out its own space?
Focus on adding value, concentrate on strengthening the chain to lead. Leverage the middle-stream advantages, develop new technologies and provide new products for high-end application fields, comprehensively improve the middle-stream titanium melting and titanium material processing technology level, and achieve the leading and controlling role of the advantageous industrial chain links in the development of the entire industrial chain.
Focus on wide application, delve into extending the chain to seek the market. Aim for the market share of the deep-processing field, cooperate with terminal product suppliers, strive to extend the downstream processing and application field links, and jointly develop high-value-added products that meet the future market demand, especially opening up new tracks in the民品 application field, doing a great job with titanium products, and enhancing the overall industry efficiency.
For example, in the development of the aerospace industry cluster, titanium alloy turbine blades can become the "heart valve" of lightweight and sturdy aero-engines; at present, using 3D printing to produce titanium alloy structural parts is a major selling point for electronic products such as mobile phones, in this regard, Xi'an has the capability to take on new and large orders; in the development of the hydrogen energy industry, titanium alloy products also have a good application market in the field of hydrogen fuel cells...
Focus on strong scientific and technological innovation, exert efforts to optimize the chain and build a brand. Fully leverage the advantages of scientific and technological innovation, relying on universities, research institutes, and leading enterprises such as Xi'an Jiaotong University and Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, actively promote the construction of national and provincial industrial innovation centers, key laboratories, engineering research centers, and other innovation platforms, and build an innovation system integrating basic research, applied research, technology development, testing and inspection, standard setting, and achievement transformation.
In order to continuously expand the "territory" of the titanium industry, Xi'an is playing a "combination punch," fully building a new industrial structure system with structural titanium alloy as the main body, functional titanium alloy, titanium alloy deep processing, titanium alloy equipment, and applications as branches, bringing the titanium alloy processing technology in the city to a world-leading level and realizing the industrialized application of titanium and titanium alloy in more fields.
Just this May, the Titanium Nickel Material Innovation Center officially settled in the Economic and Technological Development Zone...
In July, the main structure of the High-Performance Titanium Alloy Products Production Base Construction Project in the High-Tech
