Relevance

The second half of the 20th century was marked by the wide development of titanium production all over the world. This material possesses a number of advantages - wide availability and unique consumer properties. Titanium was predicted to have a bright future. This material is as lightweight and corrosion-resistant as aluminum-magnesium alloy, but incomparably stronger, more heat-resistant and metal fatigue is unknown to it. Titanium parts, unlike steel ones, are about 2-3 times lighter.

Difficulties
Titanium - practically the only material for aerospace industry, but it is rather complicated in processing, has complicated chemical and physical properties. In 1940, William Kroll proposed producing titanium metal in the form of sponge, by reducing _TiCl4 tetrachloride with magnesium, but this method turned out to be very expensive and complicated. Many billions of dollars have been invested in the development of this metal, but no alternative to this method has been found to date. The metal remains very expensive today, and its main field of application is the military-industrial complex. Considering USSR, at the time of "arms race" in late 70's of the XX century, almost all annual stock of titanium was spent on a single project. Today it is possible to find information on this project, and it was a nuclear submarine, where titanium was used as the main construction material. This submarine set a world record (still unbroken to this day) for speed under water, it has high depth, non-magnetic, low mass.

History

When it became clear that using titanium for military purposes was so costly, the number of titanium production plants declined dramatically. Today, there are 4 manufacturers involved in production of titanium sponge and about 10 large consumers. Consumers, in their turn, produce titanium products from titanium rolled products. Among the producing countries is also Russia. The titanium industry was founded here back in the days of the Soviet Union. The largest industrial complex producing titanium was created, its capacity was 80,000 tons per year. The country was the first in the world by this indicator. The industry included a number of major enterprises: in Zaporozhye (ZTMC), in Ust-Kamenogorsk (UKTMK), in Verkhnaya Salda (VSMPO), in the Sverdlovsk region (VSMPO now AVISMA). The largest part of the complex belongs to Russia. Now AVISMA accounts for one third of the total output of titanium sponge and a quarter of the total output of rolled titanium. Russia has a large potential for the development of this industry, as well as for the production of palladium and nickel. Maintaining and developing of titanium production is not an easy task. In 1991, when the USSR fell apart, there was a sharp drop in the number of orders and the titanium industry went through a crisis. At that time, orders decreased dozens of times. But the titanium industry revived. We are not going to tell you about the history of its revival, but only to review the present position of the titanium industry.

Modern production

During past years VSMPO/AVISMA Association improved the quality and the range of products, they were certified according to the international standard ISO 9001:2000. As a result, titanium was used in new industries, for example, in offshore oil production, and also entered a wide world market. Nowadays VSMPO titanium is used in 39 countries and 240 companies. In aviation sector of the world market products from Russia compete with alternative suppliers. VSMPO-AVISMA alone is responsible for 65% of all titanium orders placed by Airbus and 35% by Boeing. American politicians are taking a number of measures to protect their production (Timet, RTI, ATI and Howmet), limiting their country from titanium supplies from Russia.
The level of VSMPO/AVISMA expansion abroad is very high. It happened because during the crisis of 2001, the titanium market shrank and aircraft engineering experienced a sharp drop. According to estimates of the Japanese company Toho Titanium the capacity utilization was reduced to 69% in 2002. Our country's advantages in titanium production were strengthened by commissioning of new capacities in South Africa, USA and Australia,

The merger of VSPMO/AVISMA became the obvious result of the revived Russian titanium industry. The company's recent years of operation have been characterized by high profitability of production. The association was included in the rating of the largest Russian companies. In 2003, VSMPO received 8.37 billion rubles. According to the results of 2003, for the first time the corporation paid the dividends. However, due to increased costs, the magnesium production almost became unprofitable, which resulted in the reduced performance of AVISMA, Berezniki (controlled by VSMPO). The main reason was the increase in prices for the electric power, which, together with the low price of the finished products, reduced the profitability of the production by 10%.

Buy, price

Evek GmbH sells rolled steel products at optimal prices. It is formed taking into account the LME (London metal exchange) rates and depends on the technological peculiarities of production without additional costs. We supply semi-finished products from titanium and its alloys in wide assortment. All batches have quality certificate for compliance with standards requirements. With us you can buy in bulk the most various products for large-scale productions. The wide choice, exhaustive consulting of our managers, reasonable prices and timely delivery determine the face of our company. There is a system of discounts for wholesale purchases.