TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM and Hermith GmbH develop cooperation in joint titanium production

In the course of the XI International Forum ATOMEXPO 2019, TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM and Hermith GmbH (Germany), a major European titanium supplier, have concluded an agreement on cooperation in development of titanium production and joint promotion of products to the European and other prominent markets.

The signing ceremony was attended by Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom State Corporation, and Michael Harms, Director General of the Eastern Committee of German Economy.

The agreement provides for joint production of titanium alloy products with high added value for high-tech industries such as aviation, automotive and medicine. In particular, the parties consider establishment of a joint venture for production of aircraft tubular assemblies, special wire for additive production, sonotrodes, automobile suspension components as well as implants and prostheses for medicine.

The document is based on the successful experience of the two companies in joint supplies of titanium products manufactured by the Chepetsky Mechanical Plant (ChMP JSC, Glazov, Republic of Udmurtia) to the European market. The partnership development will enable the partners to advance their industrial cooperation, integrate their technological expertise and establish a distributed titanium cluster comprised of Russian and German enterprises.

“The strategy of TVEL Fuel Company is aimed at increasing revenues from non-nuclear businesses (which is more than 13 billion rubles in 2018) by 12-fold by 2030. One of the most promising markets is metallurgy including manufacturing of titanium products. Since 2010, the revenues of Chepetsky Mechanical Plant from titanium alloys have titanium alloys have grown by more than 10 times, and the multiple growth is expected to continue in years to come exceeding 3 billion rubles around 2020. We hope that our cooperation with Hermith GmbH, a competent European partner, will help TVEL Fuel Company develop high-technology manufacturing of titanium products with maximum added value and strengthen our presence in foreign markets”, Natalia Nikipelova, President of TVEL JSC, commented.

“In cooperation with TVEL JSC, we have managed to arrange supplies of semi-finished titanium alloy products to the Western European market within a very short time frame. At present, we envisage moving to a deeper processing of material up to supplies of finished products to aircraft industry manufacturers. The new agreement offers the prospect of establishing an aerospace and additive cluster in Russia which would be oriented at the markets in Western Europe, the United States and Canada”, Alexey Rasskazov, Director General of Hermith GmbH, noted.

The cooperation between TVEL JSC and Hermith GmbH was launched in late 2016 with the signing of a major contract for supplies of ChMP-produced titanium products launched in batch production with support from the German company. The overall amount of product sales in the European market has exceeded 70 tonnes. In total, more than 100 high technology product names have been put on production, including titanium bars, plates, tubes and wire. The main purchasers in Western Europe include Bombardier, Leonardo, Fucine Umbre, Thyssen Krupp, Vacucast, Permedica and others.

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TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM incorporates enterprises for the fabrication of nuclear fuel, conversion and enrichment of uranium, production of gas centrifuges, as well as research and design organizations. It is the only supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian nuclear power plants. TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom provides nuclear fuel for 76 power reactors in 15 countries worldwide, research reactors in eight countries, as well as transport reactors of the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world operates on fuel manufactured by TVEL.

Hermith GmbH was established in 2004 in Munich, Germany, and is a leading European titanium alloy supplier for civil aviation, automotive, chemical and other industries. In 2016, the company was awarded a prize of the German Government in nomination “Best exporting company in Bavaria”. In 2017, Hermith GmbH was certified by TÜV NORD for compliance with EN 9100, EN ISO 9001 standards.