Titanium: Trading
No exchange: big sands miners negotiate every deal
What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.No exchange trades titanium feedstock, pigment or metal. Miners such as Rio Tinto, Iluka and Tronox, each among the top four producers of titanium and zirconium in 2013 (Tilton & Guzmán, pdf p. 183), sell under negotiated contracts. Price-reporting agencies assess the market; USGS takes its rutile price from Fastmarkets IM. Pigment is sold by grade to paint and plastics makers. Aerospace sponge and alloy are bought under long qualification-bound supply agreements.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Pigment producers in China, the US, Europe, Saudi Arabia and Japan buy ilmenite, slag and rutile; China imported 3.8 Mt gross of concentrates in January-September 2025 (USGS)
- Paint, plastics and paper makers buy pigment by grade under annual or quarterly contracts
- Aerospace forgers and melters in the US and Europe buy sponge and scrap under multi-year qualified supply agreements
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Miners in Mozambique, South Africa, Australia, Senegal, Madagascar and Kenya sell concentrates (South Africa 30.2% and Mozambique 17.8% of world HS 2614 exports by value in 2024, Comtrade)
- Slag producers in South Africa, Norway and Canada (Rio Tinto, Tronox and others) sell high-TiO2 feed to chloride pigment plants
- Japan, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia sell sponge to the US (73%, 13%, 13% of 2025 imports through July, USGS)
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No LME, CME or MCX contract for titanium feedstock, pigment or sponge | All trade is bilateral; India has no exchange-traded titanium product |
Contract types
- Quarterly or half-yearly negotiated feedstock contracts between miners and pigment makers
- Multi-year offtake for new mineral sands projects
- Long-term, qualification-bound aerospace sponge and ingot agreements
- Spot cargoes of ilmenite into China
Top trading houses
- Feedstock is mostly sold direct by miners; traders play a minor role and are not named in the sources used
How prices are discovered
- Fastmarkets IM rutile and ilmenite assessments (used by USGS)
- Zen Innovations and Global Trade Tracker ilmenite unit values (used by USGS)
- Company-reported average prices (Iluka: rutile $1,216/t in 2025)
- US import unit values for slag, sponge and scrap (US Census)