Recently, Panzhihua Titanium Material Company announced that its 35,000 tons of sponge titanium expansion project has reached production for 6 consecutive months, and the technical and economic indicators have reached the standard for 3 consecutive months, marking a key breakthrough in the construction of the world's largest sponge titanium monomer production base of Panzhihua Steel. The independent controllable ability of China's high-end titanium metal industry chain has reached a new level, and has added a strong "titanium" force for high-end manufacturing.
Called the "Cornerstone" of the titanium industry, titanium sponge is the core raw material for the production of high-end products like pure titanium. In the past, China's high-end titanium materials have been under control by the import for a long time. Relying on vanadium and titanium resources in Panxi, Pangang has overcome core technologies of the molten salt chlorination and becomes the only enterprise in China that has broken through the whole titanium industry chain.
In April 2022, Panzhihua Steel launched a 35,000 tons capacity expansion project, anchored the goal of "the world's largest titanium sponge monomer base", and was completed and put into operation in only 16 months, setting a record for the fastest production and efficiency of similar projects in China. The project adopts independent technology, deeply implements the "third pole" strategy of Angang Group, and promotes the titanium industry to jump to the high-end.
In order to break through the problem of new and old production line adaptation, the Titanium material company listed the project as a "leader" project, and implemented the "reveal the leader" project: transforming the refined mineral oil system, optimizing the closed slagging process of the pulp furnace. It joints research institute to overcome the technical bottleneck of vanadium removal from mineral oil, and completely open the production blocking point. Through the construction of the "titanium-magnesium-chlorine-chlor-alkali" four-element resource cycle system, double breakthroughs in production capacity and quality were achieved - the output of ultra-soft titanium and small-particle titanium exceeded the target by 19% and 2.5% respectively, the titanium yield increased by 0.01%, and the cost decreased by 0.9%.
After the project is fully reached, the annual production capacity of Panzhihua Steel sponge titanium will reach 60,000 tons, accounting for 20% of the total domestic production capacity, and promote the import dependence of high-end titanium materials in China to be greatly reduced. "This not only breaks the domestic single factory record, but also makes China's titanium industry on the world's first echelon." The person in charge of the titanium material company said that in the future, they will focus on the research and development of dedicated sponge titanium in high-end fields such as aviation and aerospace, and build a firm foundation of "Made in China" competitiveness with technological core.
