Western companies purchased $715 million worth of titanium from the Russian Federation in two years – Kommersant

Western companies continue to purchase hundreds of millions of dollars worth of titanium from Russia, drew attention The Washington Post. Experts interviewed by the newspaper noted that the West depends on Russian supplies of metal, including for the production of military aircraft.

Titanium producer VSMPO-Avisma was not included in Western sanctions lists, although one of its owners is Rostec, against which restrictions have been introduced. Only Ukraine announced sanctions against VSMPO-Avisma. The United States has only imposed export controls on the company, which do not prohibit the import of titanium.

In 2022, the Russian company exported about 15 thousand tons of titanium worth $370 million. A significant part was sent to Ukraine’s allies. The largest buyers were companies from Germany, France, the USA and the UK. In 2023, as WP writes, VSMPO-Avisma exported titanium worth $345 million.

In 2022, Russia supplied the European aircraft manufacturing corporation Airbus with titanium worth $24 million. According to available data, the company became the largest buyer among other European and American firms. In addition, it increased purchases compared to 2021 by 940%. At the end of 2022, Airbus promised to phase out Russian titanium within a few months, but it continued to import the product until at least November 2023, according to WP. The corporation declined to comment on purchase volumes and contracts with suppliers, but stated that it complies with the sanctions and has already purchased titanium from companies in Europe, the United States and Asia.

The American aircraft manufacturing corporation Boeing announced the termination of purchases of titanium from the Russian Federation in 2022. However, its main suppliers continue to purchase Russian metal. For example, the French engine and chassis manufacturer Safran. The British company Rolls-Royce, which produces engines for Airbus and Boeing, announced in the spring of 2022 that it would stop purchasing Russian titanium, but imports continued throughout the year and increased from $5 million to $6.7 million. Deliveries were also noted in April 2023 .

How Europe replaces Russian metal supplies – in the Kommersant material “Asian steel has taken over Europe”.

Leonid Uvarchev