During the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM and Hermith GmbH (Germany), a major European titanium supplier, have concluded an agreement aimed at establishing a joint venture for production of titanium alloys.
The document has been signed by President of TVEL JSC Natalia Nikipelova and Director General of Hermith GmbH Alexey Rasskazov in the presence of Director General of ROSATOM Alexey Likhachev and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany Peter Altmaier.
The Russian-German joint venture will specialize in high value-added products for knowledge intensive industries such as aviation, automotive industry and medicine. In the first stage, it is planned to launch titanium wire production for additive manufacturing (3D printing), as well as seamless pipes for hydraulic aircraft systems. Further on, the parties consider expanding the product range, in particular, with such products as aircraft fasteners, titanium springs for the automotive industry, parts of endoprosthesis, superconducting materials, etc.
The agreement determines the relevant corporate procedures for establishment of the new company, as well as a list of documents required for the investment deal and their purpose.
“The project of TVEL JSC and Hermith on the joint development of titanium production strictly corresponds to the strategy of TVEL Fuel Company and Rosatom State Corporation, aimed at increasing revenues from non-nuclear businesses. One of the most promising industries is metallurgy. The share of metallurgical products manufactured by Chepetsky Mechanical Plant makes up more than 25% of the total “non-nuclear” revenues of TVEL Fuel Company, which amounted to 13.5 billion rubles in 2018. Cooperation with Hermith would pave the way for us to new titanium consuming markets with high added value. These are high-tech industries with the most stringent requirements for products quality,” said Natalia Nikipelova, President of TVEL JSC.
“The joint venture between Hermith GmbH and TVEL JSC is a significant step in development of German-Russian cooperation in production and supply of high-tech titanium products to the markets of Europe, the USA and Canada. The products, already launched in batch production, are a competitive, high-quality, and reliable,” said Alexey Rasskazov, General Director of Hermith GmbH.
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TVEL Fuel Company incorporates enterprises for the fabrication of nuclear fuel, conversion and enrichment of uranium, production of gas centrifuges, as well as research and design organizations. It is the only supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian nuclear power plants. TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom provides nuclear fuel for 76 power reactors in 15 countries worldwide, research reactors in eight countries, as well as transport reactors of the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world operates on fuel manufactured by TVEL.
Hermith GmbH was established in 2004 in Munich, Germany, and is a leading European titanium alloy supplier for civil aviation, automotive, chemical and other industries. In 2016, the company was awarded a prize of the German Government in nomination “Best exporting company in Bavaria”. In 2017, Hermith GmbH was certified by T?V NORD for compliance with EN 9100, EN ISO 9001 standards.
The cooperation between TVEL JSC and Hermith GmbH was launched in late 2016 with the signing of a major contract for supplies of ChMP-produced titanium products launched in batch production with support from the German company. The overall amount of product sales in the European market has exceeded 70 tonnes. In total, more than 100 high technology product names have been put on production, including titanium bars, plates, tubes and wire. The main purchasers in Western Europe include Bombardier, Leonardo, Fucine Umbre, Thyssen Krupp, Vacucast, Permedica and others.
The document signed at SPIEF-2019 is a logical continuation of the cooperation agreement that TVEL JSC and Hermith GmbH concluded at the Atomexpo-2019 International Forum in Sochi in April, 2019. By this time, the Russian and German companies have already accumulated positive experience in joint supplies of titanium products manufactured at the Chepetsky Mechanical Plant (ChMP JSC, Glazov, Republic of Udmurtia) to the European market. Development of this partnership will enable the companies to advance the industrial cooperation and integrate their technological expertise.
