It is widely recognized that the process and plant' currently used for the production of sponge have reached a level of development that cannot be improved on. Thus it is anticipated that the price of sponge will not decrease in the future. The reason why the production cost of sponge is so high is because titanium is still produced in the solid state. The operational importance of producing liquid metal cannot be over stated, since all the commercial industrial metals are produced in a liquid state. If the industry will ever get out of niche markets, titanium could become a commodity widely used in the general market, as the extraordinary combination 0 favorable properties of titanium warrants, a step change in the primary production technology of titanium will be indispensable.
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