Titanium Price Report, Week 42 (Oct 19, 2026): Sponge Falls to RMB 43,000, Sheet Weakens, Thick Plate Holds

Published by Engineering Team, Shaanxi Qianyi Tuoda Technology Co., Ltd on 2026-10-19

BAOJI, China — 19 October 2026. This week the titanium chain split into two halves. Sponge titanium is under real pressure — high operating rates, rising inventory and thin trading. Finished mill products barely moved. And inside the mill-product category, thick plate held while thin sheet and narrow strip fell into open price competition. If you are buying this month, the grade and the gauge you choose now matter more than the direction of the sponge price.

This week's reference prices (week 42, 13–19 October 2026)

Product	Price	Movement
Sponge titanium 0#	RMB 44,000 /t quoted RMB 43,000 /t traded	Down, no rebound
Titanium ingot TA1	RMB 56,000 /t	Stable
Titanium ingot TA2	RMB 55,000 /t	Stable
Titanium alloy ingot TC4	RMB 64,000 /t	Stable
TA1 / TA2 hot-rolled medium & heavy plate (coil)	RMB 65,000–80,000 /t	Weak at thin end
TA1 / TA2 cold-rolled sheet (coil)	RMB 75,000–90,000 /t	Weak, competitive
TC4 plate	RMB 120,000–160,000 /t	Firm, qualified
Pure titanium bar TA1, Φ 20–40 mm	RMB 105–110 /kg	Unchanged
Alloy bar TC4, Φ 20–40 mm	RMB 120–125 /kg	Unchanged
Titanium tube TA1, Φ 20–25 mm	RMB 115–122 /kg	Flat
Welded titanium tube	RMB 105–110 /kg	Flat

CNY, ex-works China. Published market assessment ranges for the week ending 19 October 2026. These are market reference levels, not offers.

Sponge titanium: the "high output, high inventory, low trading" trap

The grade 0 sponge quote drifted down to RMB 44,000 per tonne this week, with concluded business staying around RMB 43,000 — the gap between the asking price and the traded price is the clearest sign of a buyer's market. Producers are running at high operating rates, inventory is accumulating at both producer and downstream level, and the industry margin has slipped to roughly –6.49%.

That negative margin is the important number. It means producers are selling below cost, and it also means there is a floor somewhere near here — no one can lose money indefinitely. But a floor is not a recovery. Downstream is buying to immediate need only, new orders are scarce, and competition is intense enough that individual deals are still printing lower than the published range.

What it means for you: if you buy sponge or ingot as feedstock, the pressure is in your favour but the window is not unlimited. If you buy finished mill product, this number barely reaches you — see below.

Ingot: stable on the surface, soft underneath

TA1 ingot held at RMB 56,000 per tonne, TA2 at RMB 55,000, TC4 at RMB 64,000. All three are flat week-on-week. Under the surface, though, the two ends are behaving differently: downstream mills are buying cautiously, working through existing inventory and delivering earlier orders rather than restocking; aerospace-grade TC4 shows relative resilience while civilian TA1 and TA2 concluded volumes are soft.

This is the same split you will see repeated down the entire chain — qualified material holds, commercial material competes on price.

Plate and strip: the real story is in the gauge

Hot-rolled medium and heavy plate (including coil) sits at roughly RMB 65,000–80,000 per tonne. Cold-rolled thin sheet and coil sits at roughly RMB 75,000–90,000. TC4 plate is quoted in the RMB 120,000–160,000 range.

Within those ranges, the market has separated by gauge and by width. Thin sheet and narrow strip have many participants, and new entrants from outside the industry are steadily taking over routine chemical-industry orders — price competition there is described as white-hot, and buyers are getting real concessions. Thick plate and wide strip sit behind a higher technical barrier, and the customer base is concentrated in marine engineering and pressure-vessel work, where demand is holding up considerably better.

The practical point: if your application only needs corrosion resistance and pressure containment, look hard at whether a thicker gauge in the hot-rolled range would serve. The spread between the cold-rolled thin end and the hot-rolled thick end of this market is far larger than any movement in the sponge price this week. Re-examine the specification before you re-examine the price.

Bar: flat quote, weak demand, two very different businesses

Pure titanium bar TA1 at Φ 20–40 mm is quoted at RMB 105–110 per kilogram; TC4 alloy bar at the same diameter at RMB 120–125. Neither moved. Underneath, general machining-grade bar is in severe oversupply — downstream machinery manufacturing demand is insufficient and customers are pressing continuously on price. Medical and aerospace precision bar is a different market entirely: certification barriers keep supply scarce and margins high.

So "titanium bar is flat this week" tells you almost nothing. The question is which bar.

Tube: flat prices, growing marine demand

TA1 seamless tube at Φ 20–25 mm is quoted at RMB 115–122 per kilogram, welded tube at RMB 105–110. Both flat week-on-week. The demand picture is the most constructive in the chain — marine engineering is adding volume, and tube used in seawater cooling and offshore work is holding better than the general industrial grades.

What we are quoting this week

We hold stock rather than schedule production, so our pricing does not wait for a mill cycle. Quotations on in-stock material are held for seven days from the date of issue — if we quote you on Monday, that number stands through the following Monday, whatever the sponge market does in between.

Available now in Baoji, all shippable within 24 hours: 400 t Titanium Plate, 200 t bar and ingot, 80 t seamless tube, 50 t wire, 30 t nickel products, plus 3,000 pipe fittings, 1,500 flanges and 30,000 fasteners.

Send the grade, size and quantity. We confirm price, stock and shipping date within 4 hours.

Email sales@sxqytd.com · WhatsApp +86 188 2967 9311

Prices are published market assessments for the week ending 19 October 2026, in CNY ex-works China. They are indicative reference levels, not offers, and change weekly.