US must ramp up titanium capacity to avoid squeeze, Project Blue founder says

Titanium isn’t factoring much into current critical minerals mining news headlines the way copper, gold or lithium are, but its importance could become more evident as the conversations around defense metals evolve – and as supply chain risks are exposed.

 

 

Considered a critical mineral by the US, EU and Canada because it is essential for defense, aerospace, medical, and industrial technologies, titanium  has a unique strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance with few substitutes.

 

Titanium is used in two distinctly different forms: as titanium dioxide (TiO2) for pigments and as titanium metal alloyed for aerospace applications. The vast majority – over 90% globally of mined titanium is processed into the pigment – a looming supply chain gap  UK-headquartered market intelligence company Project Blue outlines in its report “Metals and the Security of Nations”.

 

The report details how geopolitics, especially China’s dominance and export controls, are disrupting defense supply chains for materials like titanium and rare earths.

 

In North America, titanium is mined in Florida, Georgia and Virginia in the US and in Canada’s Quebec province for use in pigments – mainly used in paint.

 

From a US perspective, the fact that the titanium that is mined is processed into pigment and not metal, makes the actual titanium mining in the US irrelevant for the aerospace industry as US mines still produce for the pigment market and not for metals.

 

Western aerospace manufacturers will need 1.6m tonnes of titanium by 2044, the firm says, but notes supply is increasingly controlled by geopolitical rivals Russia and China.

 

Project Blue’s titanium analysis hones in on the risks posed by Russia’s and China’s grip on the global titanium supply chain to Western aerospace programs.

 

Key to these are titanium sponge – an early form of pure titanium metal later used to produce metal ingots, powders and alloys. The near-term gap is less about mineral mining, and more about aerospace-grade sponge capacity and certification, the firm notes.

 

Russia is still the leading source of aerospace-grade titanium. Meanwhile, China’s share of global titanium metals has jumped from 40% in 2019 to over 75% in 2025, with growing trade ties to Moscow.

 

“With China using rare earth and critical metals as leverage in ongoing trade disputes, China could throttle titanium exports to disrupt Boeing and Airbus production, delay Western defence programmes, and give China’s COMAC and J-36 programmes a strategic advantage,” Project Blue says.

 

China’s aviation industry includes the state-owned commercial manufacturer COMAC, known for its C919 narrow-body jet, and the military focused Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC), which is developing a sixth-generation stealth fighter tentatively designated as the J-36.

 

“Titanium is essentially a defence metal –  it can be up to 20% or more of the markets for total titanium consumption that goes into defence. An F 15 can be up to 40% in weight of titanium. There’s some serious volume going in these jet planes,” Project Blue Founder and Director, Dr. Nils Backeberg told MINING.com in an interview.

 

“We’ve seen investments in titanium capacity, you’ve got Comac coming out and building their own sort of aerospace program in China.”

 

Aerospace markets have still been depressed since covid, due to declines in aircraft travel, Backeberg noted.

 

In April, Airbus SE revealed plans to source some metal to manufacture its aircraft from Saudi Arabia as part of a widebody aircraft deal with the kingdom’s flag carrier.

 

The European manufacturer signed a deal to buy 2.5 billion Riyals ($666 million) worth of raw material, mainly titanium, from Saudi Arabia. 

https://www.mining.com/us-must-ramp-up-titanium-capacity-to-avoid-squeeze-project-blue-founder-says/