China's leading domestic titanium metal company Yunnan National Titanium Metal Company Limited issued a price adjustment letter, announcing that since 8 April 2025, the price of various types of titanium sponge products for domestic customers will be increased by RMB 2,000 per tonne, and the price for international customers will be increased by USD 300 per tonne simultaneously. This is following the December 2024, February 2025, the domestic titanium sponge market in the year, the third concentrated price increase, the cumulative increase in the price of a single tonne has been more than 5,000 yuan.
Analysis of the factors of the current round of price increases:
1.Raw materials and electricity prices double up to force the price adjustment
Yunnan State Titanium in the price adjustment letter clearly indicated that the price adjustment is mainly affected by the continued high prices of titanium concentrate, magnesium, chlorine and other raw materials, as well as the Southwest region of the industrial electricity price stage upward. Data show that in the first quarter of 2025, the average import price of titanium concentrate rose 18% year-on-year, and the price of electrolytic magnesium rose 12% compared with the beginning of the year, superimposed on the deepening of the reform of the Yunnan power trading market, the cost of electricity for high energy-consuming enterprises increased by about 8% compared with the same period last year. Baoji Titanium Industry Research Institute analysts pointed out that the sponge titanium production cost of electricity alone accounted for 25%-30%, multiple pressures forced enterprises to conduct costs through price increases.
2. The chain reaction of the industry chain is hidden
As the core raw material for titanium processing, titanium sponge price increase or further push up the price of downstream titanium plate, titanium tube and titanium alloy products. At present, the main domestic titanium enterprises have launched a new round of price negotiations, aerospace, chemical anticorrosion and other high-end applications bear the brunt. A military supporting enterprises responsible for procurement revealed that the year titanium procurement budget needs to be increased by an additional 15%, or will accelerate the process of local substitution.
3.The international market export demand intensified
The international customers 300 USD / tonne adjustment is significantly higher than the domestic, reflecting the contradiction between supply and demand in the overseas market. By the Russian-Ukrainian conflict after the restructuring of the global titanium supply chain, Europe and the United States titanium sponge inventory continues to run low, while China's export price is still about 10% lower than the Russian product, the price difference advantage to promote the domestic titanium sponge exports in 2024 increased by 34% year-on-year.