Titanium

Overview

Titanium is the ninth most abundant element on Earth. Its alloys combine high strength, low weight and strong corrosion resistance, so they are used in aircraft, ships and medical implants, which bond well with bone.¹ Few materials match its strength-to-weight ratio together with its corrosion resistance.²

Titanium has two very different supply chains that share the same ores. Most titanium minerals are made into titanium dioxide (TiO₂), a white pigment for paints, plastics and paper. A much smaller share becomes titanium metal.¹² The criticality listings reflect this split. The United States lists titanium as a critical mineral.³ The EU lists titanium metal as both critical and strategic, but not titanium in all its forms, most of which goes into pigment.⁴⁵

Where it comes from

Titanium is mined mainly as ilmenite and rutile. Ilmenite accounts for about 90% of world consumption of titanium minerals, and world resources of anatase, ilmenite and rutile exceed 2 billion t. China is the largest producer of concentrates, followed by Mozambique and South Africa.⁶

• China3,200,000 t · 34%
• Mozambique1,900,000 t · 20%
• South Africa1,300,000 t · 14%
• Australia780,000 t · 8%
• Norway390,000 t · 4%
• Senegal370,000 t · 4%
• Canada360,000 t · 4%
• Other countries1,070,000 t · 11%

World total shown is the sum of USGS country estimates; USGS rounds it to 9.4 million t. US figure is rounded and includes rutile. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Titanium Mineral Concentrates

Rutile production is much smaller, an estimated 450,000 t of TiO₂ content in 2025, led by Australia, Sierra Leone and South Africa.⁶

Metal is made by the Kroll process. Titanium ore is chlorinated with carbon to titanium tetrachloride, which is then reduced with magnesium at about 850 °C to produce metal known as sponge.¹ China dominates sponge output, with Japan a distant second. Russia's output fell from 33,000 t in 2024 to an estimated 25,000 t in 2025.²

• China260,000 t · 71%
• Japan53,000 t · 14%
• Russia25,000 t · 7%
• Kazakhstan16,000 t · 4%
• Saudi Arabia12,000 t · 3%
• Other countries300 t · <1%

World total shown is the sum of USGS country estimates; USGS rounds it to 370,000 t. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Titanium and Titanium Dioxide

China also holds about 60% of world TiO₂ pigment capacity. The United States is the second-largest holder and a net exporter of pigment.²

• China6,000,000 t · 61%
• United States1,360,000 t · 14%
• Mexico350,000 t · 4%
• Germany339,000 t · 3%
• Japan322,000 t · 3%
• Australia260,000 t · 3%
• Other countries1,281,000 t · 13%

Year-end operating capacity. World total shown is the sum of USGS country estimates; USGS rounds it to 9.9 million t. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Titanium and Titanium Dioxide

What it is used for

Pigment is the dominant use. In the United States, more than 95% of titanium mineral concentrates go to pigment producers. The rest goes into welding-rod coatings, carbides, chemicals and metal.⁶ Pigment's main markets are paints, plastics and paper. Smaller uses include catalysts, ceramics, coated fabrics, printing ink and roofing granules.²

Most titanium metal goes into aerospace. The remainder is used in armor, chemical processing, marine hardware, medical implants and power generation.²

Grades and forms

The trade divides into mineral feedstocks, pigment, and metal products from sponge onward. Feedstocks compete with each other for pigment and metal production.⁶ Ferrotitanium has its own tariff line and is covered on a separate page.²

Trade and policy

The United States has made no titanium sponge since its last plant, in Utah, closed in 2024. Two larger plants in Nevada and Utah have been idle since 2020 and 2016. US imports of sponge reached a record of about 44,000 t in 2025. Japan supplied 73% in the first seven months, with Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia at 13% each.² US producers also rely on imported scrap, about 32,000 t in 2025. A Virginia company, supported by federal funding, began making titanium powder from scrap in late 2024.²

The country is also about 88% import-reliant for titanium mineral concentrates. Its main sources in 2021–24 were South Africa, Canada, Madagascar and Mozambique.⁶ The FY 2025 plan for the National Defense Stockpile listed potential acquisitions of 15,000 t of titanium.²

In the EU's 2023 assessment, China was the largest global processor of titanium metal, at 43%. Kazakhstan was the EU's largest single supplier, at 36%.⁵ Under the Critical Raw Materials Act, titanium metal falls under the 2030 benchmarks for strategic raw materials: 10% of EU consumption from EU extraction, 40% from EU processing and 25% from recycling, and no more than 65% from any single third country.⁴

Recycling and substitution

Titanium scrap is an important feed for US metal producers, but USGS withholds consumption data. Scrap use in steel and superalloys is not tracked.² Titanium minerals are not recycled.⁶

Titanium competes with aluminum, composites, intermetallics, steel and superalloys in high-strength uses. Aluminum, nickel, specialty steels and zirconium alloys can replace it where corrosion resistance is the main need. Calcium carbonate, kaolin and talc compete with TiO₂ as white pigments.²

Sources

1. Titanium: element information, properties and uses. Royal Society of Chemistry, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Titanium and Titanium Dioxide. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

3. Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Federal Register, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

4. Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 (Critical Raw Materials Act). EUR-Lex, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩²

5. Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023, Final Report. European Commission, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩²

6. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Titanium Mineral Concentrates. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶