Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Setting Off Shockwaves in Global Titanium Industry By Michael C. Gabriele, International Titanium Association (Editor’s note: The following article is a compilation of recent news stories, press releases and company statements regarding the effects on the international titanium industry due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24. As a non-profit trade group, the International Titanium Association does not weigh in on political issues. However, the information provided here comes from the titanium and aerospace industries, industry observers and trusted news sources, all of which has a direct impact on global business conditions. Sources of information collected here are identified, along with the content that they provided.)
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s the war in Ukraine continues to unfold (now in its fifth week at the time of this writing), the titanium industry and major users of titanium are making moves to react to the situation. In early March, a host of news outlets— Aviation Week, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, and others—reported that Boeing Co. halted titanium purchases from Russia. The Wall Street Journal, on March 7, reported that Boeing stopped purchasing Russian titanium since the invasion of Ukraine. Boeing also closed its engineering offices in Moscow and Kyiv and stopped sending spare plane parts to Russian airlines. Citing a statement from a Boeing spokeswoman, reported by the Journal, the aerospace giant said it will focus on sourcing its titanium from the United States, Japan, China and Kazakhstan. “Our inventory and diversity of titanium sources provide sufficient supply for airplane production, and we will continue to take the right steps to ensure longterm continuity,” the spokeswoman said. The Journal also reported that, after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, Boeing began diversifying its
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titanium sources as the United States imposed Russian sanctions.” Last year, according to an article posted on PRNewswire, Boeing and VSMPO-Avisma announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) affirming that VSMPO would remain the largest titanium supplier for current and future Boeing commercial airplanes, reaffirming a business relationship that began in the mid-1990s. VSMPO provided titanium used on Boeing 737, 767, 787, 777 and 777X airplanes. The two companies issued a statement on the MOU at the November 2021 Dubai Airshow, held in the United Arab Emirates. A March 1 article by the news service Reuters indicated that Russia’s VSMPO-Avisma supplies European aerospace manufacturer Airbus with about 50 percent of its annual titanium needs, while it estimated that Boeing receives about 30 percent. News reports stated that Airbus continued to weigh the situation regarding of its sourcing of titanium from Russia. The Seattle Times, in a story posted online on Feb. 24, wrote that “engine makers for Boeing and Airbus jets are working to diversify sources of
titanium away from Russia as the conflict in Ukraine threatens access to the metal needed to make critical plane equipment.” Russia’s VSMPOAvisma is the main supplier for Safran, while Rolls-Royce Holdings gets about 20 percent its titanium from Russia. ATI Terminates Uniti Venture Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Technologies Inc., on March 9, announced the termination of Uniti LLC, its joint venture with Russianbased VSMPO-AVISMA, to market and sell a range of commercially pure titanium products. The joint venture primarily focused on selling to industrial markets such as power generation, chemical and petroleum processing, automotive, and transportation. The joint venture is expected to wind up by the end of this year. “We appreciate our nearly 20-year collaboration and thank our partners for working with us to serve our shared customers,” said Kevin Kramer, board member of the joint venture and Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer of ATI, quoted in the announcement. ATI formed the Uniti joint venture with VSMPO in April 2003. Views from Industry Observers New York-based Fitch Ratings Inc., one of the “big three” credit rating agencies, registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a “Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization,” stated that “a protracted war between Russia and Ukraine could lead to elevated production and supply chain risks
