8108 20 — Unwrought titanium; titanium powders

8108 Titanium and articles thereof, including waste and scrap: 8108 20 – unwrought titanium; powders 8108 30 – waste and scrap 8108 90 – other

Titanium is obtained by reducing the oxide ores of rutile and Brucite and from ilmenite (titanium-containing iron ore). Depending on the process used, the metal can be prepared in a compact form, in the form of sintering powder (as in the preparation of tungsten), as ferrotitanium (group 72) or as titanium carbide. In compact form, titanium is a shiny white metal, in powder it is dark gray; has corrosion resistance, hard and brittle, if not very clean. Ferrotitanium and ferrosilicotitane (Group 72) are used in the production of steel; the metal is also alloyed with aluminum, copper, nickel, etc. Titanium is mainly used in the aviation industry, in shipbuilding, for the production of, for example, tanks, stirrers, heat exchangers, pumps and valves and in the chemical industry, in the desalination of seawater and in the instructions of nuclear power plants. This heading covers titanium in all forms, in particular sponges, ingots, powder, anodes, rods, sheets and plates, waste and scrap, and articles other than those mentioned in other groups of the Nomenclature (mainly in Section XVI or XVII), such as helicopter rotors, turbine and engine blades, pumps or valves. The classification of titanium carbide is similar to that of tungsten carbide (see Explanatory Note to heading 8101).