Titanium Metals is planning to add a second specialty alloys hotmill at its rolling mill in Toronto, Ohio, a company official said Monday. The official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed information from the United Steelworkers union that the Exton, Pennsylvania-based company is intent on expanding the Toronto facility.
The new hotmill project is still in its early planning stages, the source said, adding that it could be a year or two before planning is completed and the project undergoes the requite corporate approval process.
The source provided no further details, including the hotmill's projected capacity. The company also does not release capacity figures for the existing plant.
The source said that the hotmill was not the only change underway at the site aimed at boosting capacity, but did not provide details on those other efforts.
Separately, a different Timet official said she did not know if the company would appeal the US International Trade Commission's October 6 decision to end investigations into whether titanium sponge imports into the US from Japan and Kazakhstan were harming Timet, the lone remaining titanium sponge producer in the country.
In its August 24 petition for the investigation, Timet alleged dumping margins of 31%-69% on imports from Japan and a margin of dumping of 33% for Kazakhstan imports.
An ITC spokeswoman said a report detailing the reasons for its Timet decision is expected to be released later in November.
Timet serves the commercial aerospace, defense and industrial markets, and says it supplies nearly one-fifth of the world's titanium demand.
