Global mine production of titanium minerals 2023, by country

China is the leading mine producer of titanium minerals across the globe. In 2023, mine production of ilmenite in the East Asian country reached about 3.1 million metric tons of titanium dioxide content, nearly doubling the production of Mozambique, the second-largest titanium producer worldwide.

Titanium producers

The world's total mine production of titanium minerals amounted to an estimated 9.2 million metric tons in 2023. Ilmenite accounted for over 90 percent of the overall titanium production from mines that year. In addition to being the world's largest titanium producing country, China's reserves of titanium – together with Australia's – are amongst the vastest in the planet. Unfortunately, most of the global titanium production is from countries that are considered politically unstable.

Applications of titanium

Titanium – an element which is only found in nature as an oxide – has many important industrial uses, including as an alloy component in steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, vanadium, manganese, iron, molybdenum, and others. Powdered titanium is used in pyrotechnics, and titanium dioxide is used widely as a white pigment in a wide variety of products, such as paints, toothpaste, plastics, paper, and many others. As of 2022, the global market size of titanium amounted to approximately 29 billion U.S. dollars, and is forecast to increase to nearly 52 billion U.S. dollars in 2030.