20~(th) Annual International Titanium Association Conference and Exhibition

摘要

The 400 attendees at the 20~(th) annual ITA meeting, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 3-6, 2004, witnessed an industry far more optimistic than at the group's gathering in Monterey, California, a year earlier. In 2003, the industry remained in the grips of global recession, with predictions of only moderate recovery at best. The end of 2004 saw an accelerated recovery of the aerospace and defense industries, moderate gains in industrial and consumer applications, and initial success in new cost reducing technologies. Thirty-five papers were presented at the conference, organized into eight sequential panels. Topics ranged from industry status and trends, to materials, processes, and applications as diverse as aerospace, military, industrial, automotive, and architectural (Figure 1). Michael Metz, vice president commercial of VSMPO Tims, forecast strong global growth in mill products, with shipments rising 30 percent by 2006 from the 43,000 ton level Of 9002-2003, with further increases to a level of-56,000 in 2008. Figure 2 shows that this growth is focused in the commercial aerospace market, with smaller growth in military aerospace and even more modest growth in industrial and consumer markets. According to a presentation by Mark Karnoii, president of Dynamet Inc., the global titanium market is comprised of 34 percent commercial aerospace, 13 percent military (mostly aerospace), 45 percent industrial, and 8 percent consumer markets. Similar to Metz's view, Ramon expects a 33 percent increase in industry shipments between 2003 and 2006: significant rebound in commercial aerospace growth, plus new programs in the military, moderate growth in industrial markets, and continued expansion in emerging and consumer markets.