Russia – After the largest Western companies rejected, in a showy manner, Russian titanium, they quietly continued to buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of it, despite the West admitting its dependence on titanium metal, considering it a security threat.
While importers said that solid stocks and alternative producers are helping them. Now, they fear shortages of vital raw materials and threats to the defense, aerospace and aviation industries if titanium supplies are effectively halted.
The Russian company VSMPO-Avisma has not been included in Western blacklists, although Rostec, which is subject to Western sanctions once morest Russia, is among its owners. Faced with the largest producer of titanium in the full cycle (from raw material to manufactured product), the Americans imposed only export controls, which do not prohibit imports. However, aircraft manufacturers promised not to buy Russian products.
For its part, Airbus stated once more, in December 2022, that it would refuse “supplies for several months,” while Airbus Defense and Space Director Michael Schellhorn said: “We are moving away from Russia.”
Boeing also confirmed, in March 2022, that “there are large reserves,” formed, among other things, thanks to the establishment of a group of suppliers around the world, so the company will dispense with Russian titanium.
Locals, however, said that it appears that cooperation with Moscow “is actually being quietly restored.” That’s a fact.
As the Washington Post reported, all this time the West continued to buy titanium from Russia, and according to the newspaper, VSMPO-Avisma, which was not subject to sanctions, sold 15,000 tons worth $370 million in 2022, mostly to the United Kingdom and Germany. France and the United States.
It turned out that all major suppliers of aircraft manufacturing giants bought Russian titanium. The French aviation group Safran, which produces structures, including for Boeing aircraft, increased its titanium imports to $20 million in 2022, up from $8.6 million in 2021. The British company Rolls-Royce announced, Which produces engines for Airbus and Boeing, halted imports in the spring of 2022, and as a result, they purchased $6.7 million more than the previous year.
Titanium “officially” comes from other countries, including Japan, China and Kazakhstan, but this is clearly not enough. Independent industrial expert Leonid Khazanov says that the Ust-Kamenogorsk plant in Kazakhstan produces titanium sheets, alloys and plates, while VSMPO-Avisma produces long flats, pipes and seals from the raw material. The Japanese company Toho Titanium and Osaka Titanium also have broader production lines than the Ust-Kamenogorsk plant, but in terms of the number of sites for semi-finished titanium products, all of this production is “inferior to the Russian company,” according to the expert.
Buying from Chinese mining companies is also not an option, given the complex foreign policy and economic relations between the West and the People’s Republic of China.
Economist Khazanov points out, “If the government in the United States gives the green light to import large quantities of titanium from China, the aircraft industry and the military industrial complex will become addicted to it.”
Therefore, there are few options: “eat up” the reserves, and try to search for titanium in alternative markets. And in parallel quietly acquire the Russian product.
The purchases show that the West is still dependent on Moscow for some goods, despite assurances of cutting off economic ties, according to the Washington Post, where the newspaper quoted William George, an analyst at the American monitoring company Import Genius, as saying, “Russia might cut off titanium supplies.” “Then companies of great importance to national defense and civil aviation will find themselves in a difficult situation.”
The expert continues: “It will be a blow below the belt: titanium prices will rise, and then we will certainly have to bow to the Chinese, who will not hesitate to exploit the situation with Western customers who have become hostages of the political games of the United States and the European Union.”
In this case, according to the founder of the investment company SharesPro Denis Astafiev, problems will arise in the aviation and defense industries of “unfriendly countries”, up to the closure of companies. The experience of recent years shows that we are skillfully using the “raw material lever” as an instrument not only “to stabilize the ruble, but also to influence various geopolitical processes.”
Boeing, for example, has suspended production of the 737 MAX, for reasons including difficulties related to raw materials. The situation will also be aggravated by the fact that the demand for titanium will increase, as Roscongress analysts expect that by 2026 the market will grow to 6.1 billion annually, while “Airbus” depends on Russian raw materials by 60%, and “Boeing” by 35%. Therefore, halting Russian supplies would deal a double blow to the West.
Source: Novosti
#Titanium…Russias #hidden #weapon #AlMarsad #Libyan #newspaper
2024-04-04 01:21:35
