Interlink to build titanium plant in Bahrain

Switzerland-based titanium supplier Interlink Metals and Chemicals plans to build a titanium production facility in Bahrain, which is scheduled to be operational by mid-2025.

The fully integrated production facility will operate an electron-beam (EB) and a vacuum-arc (VAR) furnace, for the production of commercially pure titanium and titanium alloys, with a capacity of 4,000 t/yr of titanium ingot and slab. Interlink's new subsidiary, Bahrain Titanium (BTI), will also build a ferro-titanium (FeTi) facility to utilise scrap that does not meet specifications for ingot production.

The EB, VAR and FeTi facility will be operational by mid-2025. The company is looking to expand into tubed, forged and rolled products, as well as specialised products for critical applications, but the timeline for these plans was not disclosed.

The AMIC-Toho Titanium joint venture sponge plant in neighbouring Saudi Arabia has issued a letter of intent to BTI to supply it with titanium sponge as feedstock, a source at Interlink said. But an initial focus on non-critical applications provides the option to also utilise other sources, such as China. The EB furnace can also use up to 100pc scrap feedstock, which means the company is not wholly reliant on high-grade sponge — a market tilting further into a critical supply/demand imbalance.

The BTI plant will supply both Middle East and western markets. In Europe and the US, titanium manufacturers in industrial and aerospace industries are facing a supply shortfall after Russia pulled back from western markets.

Bahrain's free trade agreement with the US means US imports from Bahrain will not be subject to the 15pc duty that otherwise applies to normal trade relation countries.

By Samuel Wood