US Titanium Firms Angry at Senate Deal; Russian Firms Angry at US Firms

Still hammering these out Controversies have kept going on regarding the USA’s 1973 Berry Amendment, which mandates US firms as sources for ‘strategic metals’ used in the defense industry. Aerospace companies want it relaxed to introduce more competition for a metal they’re using more often, and appear to have agreement in principle from the Pentagon. US titanium producers like Allegheny Technologies, RTI International and TIMET are fighting to keep it as is to protect their turf. The US Senate thinks it has a compromise that allows suppliers to skip reporting on small items like bolts, etc. US titanium producers are fighting even that measure. Which now has the Russians involved. In the wake of recent State Department sanctions on Russia’s umbrella weapons exporter Rosoboronexport and fighter-maker Sukhoi, and vocal lobbying by US titanium firms against the Senate compromise, the world’s #1 titanium firm VSMPO-Avisma is voicing concerns that US titanium companies are trying to fence it out of the American market altogether, where it reportedly owns a 20-35% share via civil sales. Russia remains the globe’s leading exporter of titanium, and VSMPO-Avisma is going public with fears that these measures may be followed by an anti-dumping probe against it. What […]