Analysts said the Australian consulting firm TZ Minerals International, the average price of ilmenite used to produce titanium in the next year will fluctuate in a range between markers 280 and $ 350 per ton. The projected cost exceeds the price of mineral raw materials that in the first months of 2011, at least 115% (in January — March titanium feedstock sold on average at $ 110−130 / t). «The significant increase in the cost of ilmenite we are seeing today," — commented on the company's analysts, Philip Murphy, who heads TZMI. The reason for increased cost of titanium raw materials — in the depletion of deposits now being developed with the activated demand for products made from it. And the problem of rising prices of raw materials will be relevant even in the next 2−3 years, while the titanium market operators will be to develop new fields. According to previously published statements by experts TZ Minerals International, the global demand for raw materials for titanium and its derivatives (ferrotitanium, titanium dioxide and other products) will grow rapidly in the coming years. According to the company, already by 2018 its annual consumption exceeds the existing indicators by 2.5 times. In the world it revealed about 300 titaniferous ore deposits. World reserves of this metal contained in ilmenite (80%), anatase (about 12%) and rutile (about 6%). Leadership positions in the production of titanium globally stable takes Australia.