Japan Rolled Titanium Shipment Forecasted to Recover by 30-40% in 2011

Japan Titanium Society announced on Thursday Japanese shipment volume of rolled titanium products is forecasted to increase by 30-40% in 2011 compared with 2010. Domestic demand would maintain weak while export is expected to increase for airplanes, desalination plants in Middle East and other applications mainly in emerging countries.

Japanese annual shipment of rolled titanium products totaled 13,783 tonnes in 2010, increasing by 15% from 2009. By 30-40% volume up, the shipment would total 17,900-19,300 tonnes in 2011. The shipment volume could not reach record 19,727 tonnes in 2008 but might recover the level as high as 19,087 tonnes in 2007.

Airplane market has recently recovered at overseas, including new-model planes’ service start. In Middle East, titanium consumption is expected for new desalination plants at several thousand tonnes. Moreover, titanium utilization has recovered for infrastructures in emerging countries, such for power plant equipments or plate-type heat exchangers.

Japanese shipment of rolled titanium products dropped to 11,999 tonnes in 2009, the lowest since 2000. The volume rebounded by 14.9% in 2010. The export increased by 17.8% to 9,195 tonnes, among which power plant application accounted for 4,879 tonnes or 53.1%. The shipment for domestic market increased by 9.4% to 4,588 tonnes. The volume was 58% lower than the peak in 2007.