The fragmented nature of the titanium metal value chain

Abstract

SYNOPSIS This study investigates the fragmented nature of the global and local titanium metal value chains. South Africa has the fourth most abundant titanium reserves in the world. However, South Africa mainly exports titanium ore and imports value-added titanium products, which impacts the potential to derive more economic benefit from this resource. For South Africa to benefit from its titanium reserves, an understanding of the current fragmented nature of the global titanium value chain would assist in entering the global titanium industry. Information on the global and South African titanium value chains was collected by means of a desktop study. It was found that the leading countries operating within both the upstream and the downstream titanium industry are the USA, China, Japan, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The key drivers that caused fragmentation were identified as technology, markets, production costs, and the availability of titanium mineral reserves. An important outcome of this study is the identification of the local need for a technological foundation in support of downstream titanium processing to market-competitive titanium mill and powder products. Keywords: fragmentation, titanium, titanium value chain.

Development of Titanium Production in Ukraine: Evolving Prospects Based on National R&D

“…The necessary conditions for the involvement of countries that are mainly exporters of titanium raw materials in the higher links of global chains of added value are revealed in the work of Roux et al [16] on the example of African countries. In particular, the key condition is the development and implementation of the latest technologies for advanced processing of titanium raw materials.…”

Status and Directions of Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade in Titanium Ores and Concentrates in Ukraine

“…На фрагментованість титанових ланцюгів доданої вартості внаслідок складності процесу переробки титану, негативного впливу на довкілля та обмеженого доступу до технологій і віддаленості ринків вказують у своєму дослідженні Роу Р. та ін. (Roux, 2020). Також автори виокремлюють необхідні умови для залучення країн, що є переважно експортерами титанової сировини, у вищі ланки глобальних ланцюгів доданої вартості.…”