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EU JRC releases policy report on titanium industry

Titanium metal is crucial for the EU aerospace and defense industries, and plays a significant role in multiple key technologies for green and digital transformation. However, EU titanium products are heavily dependent on imports. Against the backdrop of tension and rising trade protectionism such as limited global titanium suppliers, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU is facing the risk of disruption of the titanium supply chain. On January 20th, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission released a policy report titled "Titanium metal in the EU: Strategic relevance and circularity potential", analyzing the current global situation of the titanium industry and proposing several policy recommendations aimed at ensuring a sustainable titanium ecosystem in the EU and strengthening its open strategic autonomy.
1、 The strategic significance of titanium metal
The European Union is an important consumer of titanium metal, and it is expected that the use of titanium metal in the EU will continue to grow in the coming years. However, the production capacity of titanium metal in Europe is very limited, resulting in a higher import volume than export volume of titanium metal. The share of titanium products (such as ingots, bars, plates, pipes, etc.) in imported products is *, with an overall import and export volume ratio of 6:1, while the import and export volume ratio of unprocessed titanium (mainly sponge titanium used for manufacturing forged products) is 10:1. At present, two-thirds of the titanium demand in the EU is related to civil aviation and aerospace applications, which provide over 400000 jobs and account for more than 2% of the EU's gross domestic product. The remaining titanium demand is distributed in fields such as chemical technology, automotive, robotics, defense, and additive manufacturing.
2、 Geopolitics and supply chain challenges
The EU's dependence on imports, coupled with geopolitical turmoil such as the Russia Ukraine war, and expected demand growth in the aerospace and defense industries, highlights the urgency for the EU to reduce its external dependence. In addition, the number of global titanium producers is still very limited, which makes it more difficult for the EU to achieve supplier diversification. The global titanium industry is mainly concentrated in a few key regions such as China, Japan, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Among them, Japan mainly focuses on the production of forged titanium, while China lacks high-quality titanium for export. Although the EU has successfully compensated for the loss of titanium supply to Russia and Ukraine caused by the Russia Ukraine war, the titanium supply chain still faces risks, and Russia, as the world's largest producer of aerospace grade titanium, still has significant influence in the global aerospace industry.
3、 Titanium metal closed cycle
The report points out that improving the recycling rate of titanium metal is expected to solve the EU's dependence on external countries. The circular economy not only provides an opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of titanium and its dependence on raw materials, but also helps to reduce the import volume of titanium. A key step in achieving closed-loop management of titanium metal is to retain aviation titanium waste and recycle it, rather than returning it to non EU suppliers. Repositioning these waste materials to European facilities and supporting the construction of local production infrastructure can double employment opportunities in the EU titanium industry while significantly increasing economic value.
4、 Policy recommendations
The report proposes policy recommendations based on the EU's current priorities in decarbonization, risk reduction, relocation of production, and shortage of key raw materials. These recommendations will provide support for recent and upcoming policies and guidelines, such as the Key Raw Materials Act, the Net Zero Industries Act, the Green Deal Industry Plan, proposals for the Clean Industry Agreement, revisions to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, and the Draghi Report. These recommendations aim to establish a sustainable titanium ecosystem in the European Union, including:
Relocation of titanium processing industry: Establishing midstream production capacity within the EU to reduce dependence on imports;
Improving the titanium recycling rate of retired aircraft: Recycling titanium from retired aircraft is feasible, but challenges such as profitability, regulations, and technology limit its large-scale implementation. Promoting ecological design practices and simplifying material certification processes can help overcome these obstacles;
Strengthening international cooperation: Collaborating with titanium producing countries such as Kazakhstan can achieve diversified procurement sources and promote sustainable practices in mining and processing;
Supporting Ukraine's titanium industry: Ukraine's post-war reconstruction efforts should include its titanium production in the EU value chain.

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