Ukraine reduces export of titanium ores by over a third in 2024

In 2024, Ukraine's exports of titanium ores and concentrates dropped by 37.5% year-over-year to 7,284 tonnes.

According to statistics from the State Customs Service, the value of these exports decreased by 40%, totaling $11.654 million. The primary export destinations were Türkiye (62.82% of monetary volume), Egypt (7.38%), and Poland (6.93%).

Experts have noted discrepancies in titanium ore export statistics. In response to a query from Interfax-Ukraine, Production and Commercial Firm (PCF) Velta LLC, which operates titanium ore extraction assets in Novomyrhorod (Kirovohrad region), reported exporting over 15,000 tonnes of ilmenite (titanium concentrate) to the Czech Republic and Mexico in just January-February 2024. Experts suspect that the State Customs Service data only covers rutile exports, another type of titanium ore.

Meanwhile, Ukraine imported 314 tonnes of titanium ores valued at $492,000, primarily from China (87.78%), Vietnam (6.11%), and Senegal (6.11%).

Currently, titanium-containing ores are primarily mined by the United Mining Chemical Company (UMCC), which manages the Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant in Dnipropetrovsk region and the Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant in Zhytomyr region, as well as by Mezhdurichensk Mining and Processing Plant and Valki-Ilmenit (both in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region). Additionally, Velta (Dnipro) has constructed a mining and processing plant at the Birzulovsky deposit with an annual capacity of 240,000 tonnes of ilmenite concentrate.