Airbus and Boeing weigh on titanium prices

Airbus and Boeing weigh on titanium prices, reports Les Echos. Back in April 2005, titanium prices peaked at a historical high ($32-per-kilo) in a context of shortage. This period seems distant memory for consumer countries now, including France. Indeed, since August 2007, titanium prices have settled at below the symbolic $8 -per-kilo mark. Les Echos explains that this price fall is due to the strong exposure of the metal to the aeronautics sector, which accounts for half of global demand for titanium. New-generation aircraft –B787, A380 and A350- use 90 to 110 tonnes per unit, points out Pierre-Francois Louvigne, expert at French defence procurement agency DGA. While the latest Cyclope industry report says the fall in titanium prices in 2007 was due to programme delays at Airbus, Mr Louvigne disagrees: “It was Boeing who weighed most on [titanium] prices in 2007, not Airbus, because the production pace of the B787 is much faster than the A380’s. The competitor to the B787, the A350, will only arrive to the market around 2011, at best”. Les Echos