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Saudi Arabia Signs Agreement to Develop Aviation-Grade Titanium Alloy Value Chains

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Signs Agreement to Develop Aviation-Grade Titanium Alloy Value Chains

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment and development collaboration opportunities to advance the aviation-grade titanium alloy value chain in the Kingdom for mid and downstream applications.

Tasnee CEO and board member Mutlaq al-Morished stressed that the agreement aims to explore potential cooperation investment and development opportunities between the two companies to enhance the titanium value chain to serve intermediate industries.

Morished told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Ministry of Investment supports the two parties by facilitating their collaboration with the relevant government sectors and addressing the challenges.

He indicated that Tasnee is the only company in the Middle East that manufactures titanium "sponge," used in manufacturing aircraft, nuclear submarines, missiles, and satellites. It produces 15,500 tons annually, equivalent to 10 percent of global production.

The CEO added that the metal is strategic and contributes to achieving Vision 2030 aimed at further localizing technology for advanced industries that raise the competitiveness of the national product and boost the contribution of the private sector and non-oil exports to the gross domestic product.

The Advanced Metal Industries Cluster (AMIC) was established jointly by Tasnee and Cristal in 2014 with a mandate to develop the Titanium Value chain in the Kingdom.

AMIC has established the Upstream projects by setting up a Titanium Sponge plant in Yanbu Industrial City through a JV with Toho – Japan.

The company has established a titanium smelter plant in Jazan City for primary and downstream industries which are considered the world's largest, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons of titanium slag and 250,000 tons of pig iron.

In 2021, Tasnee announced that the Titanium Ilmenite Smelter Plant is forecast to start trial operations in Q4 of 2021. The first batch was produced in early December of the same year.

Tasnee announced that after implementing all required modifications by Metso Outotec and the relevant contractors, the mechanical completion was achieved in 2021, followed by start-up preparations and heat-up of the furnace.

The furnace load will ramp up from the current 18MW to 30 MW by mid-January 2022. It is the first holding point planned to last 90 days, to optimize the operating parameters of the furnace.

The success of the operation run at the first holding point will then be followed by ramping the load up gradually to around 45MW (70 percent of design capacity) by the end of Q2 2022, the target load for the execution of the sustainable operation test.

The operation was targeted to achieve this milestone in Q4 2022, and the furnace would increase its load to a design capacity of 60 MW.

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Facing Market Pain, UK’s Reeves Says ‘Pragmatic’ China Ties Will Help Growth

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves looks on during the 11th China - UK Economy and Finance Dialogue in Beijing, China, 11 January 2025. (EPA)
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves looks on during the 11th China - UK Economy and Finance Dialogue in Beijing, China, 11 January 2025. (EPA)
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Facing Market Pain, UK’s Reeves Says ‘Pragmatic’ China Ties Will Help Growth

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves looks on during the 11th China - UK Economy and Finance Dialogue in Beijing, China, 11 January 2025. (EPA)
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves looks on during the 11th China - UK Economy and Finance Dialogue in Beijing, China, 11 January 2025. (EPA)

British finance minister Rachel Reeves, facing criticism for travelling to China during financial market turmoil at home, said on Saturday that "pragmatic and predictable" relations with Beijing would help boost economic growth and trade.

Under pressure from a sharp rise in British interest rates, Reeves defended her budget at the start of the two-day visit to China, where she is seeking to revive high-level economic and financial talks that have been frozen for nearly six years.

"The fiscal rules that I set out in my budget in October are non-negotiable, and growth is the number one mission of this government to make our country better off," Reeves told reporters at a Brompton bicycle shop in Beijing.

"That's why I'm in China to unlock tangible benefits for British businesses exporting and trading around the world to ensure that we have greater access to the second-largest economy in the world."

The rise in British government borrowing costs, due in part to a global bond selloff, prompted comparisons with the 2022 "mini-budget" crisis that forced then-Prime Minister Liz Truss out of Downing Street.

However, this week's market moves have been less sharp and there has so far been no evidence of the strain on institutional investors that forced the Bank of England into emergency bond purchases in 2022.

On trade, asked whether Britain would follow Washington and Brussels in imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Reeves, who will be in Shanghai on Sunday, said: "We keep issues under review but we make decisions in our national interest."

British car manufacturers, "like Jaguar Land Rover, export substantially to Chinese markets, and we want to help them to grow."

After her bicycle shop visit, Reeves met Vice President Han Zheng, telling him it was "important to have open and frank dialogue in areas where we agree, but also in areas where we have different views."

'COMMON GROUND'

Her delegation, which includes Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, Standard Chartered Chairman Jose Vinals, and HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker, then met Chinese counterparts led by Vice Premier He Lifeng.

He urged British financial firms to expand renminbi services and promote deeper yuan internationalization, while inviting them to participate in green finance and the pension industry in China.

Reeves said she looked forward to China issuing its first overseas sovereign green bond in London this year.

Her visit follows a dialogue opened last year between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Xi Jinping, the first between the two countries' leaders since 2018.

Reeves told He that Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rising geopolitical tensions and climate change meant that they faced a much more challenging environment than when their predecessors last met.

"It is important to prevent economic leaps weakening our national security and economic resilience," she said, adding both she and He wanted to "find common ground" in this regard.

He said Beijing will work with London to ensure a fair, non-discriminatory business environment for each country's firms.

The approach adopted by Starmer's Labor government, elected in July, contrasts with that of the previous Conservative administration, which took a robust path to differences with China - particularly over human rights, Hong Kong and allegations of Chinese espionage.

Starmer has long described his desire to build a relationship with China that is "rooted in the UK's national interests" by boosting trade, a task that may become more difficult if US President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs on all imports.

China is Britain's fourth-largest trading partner, accounting for goods and services trade worth almost 113 billion pounds ($138 billion).