ANALYSIS-Aircraft demand to keep hi-tech metals high

Several other projects in the DRC have been delayed, or production forecasts reduced. For a FACTBOX on Congolese cobalt mining, click on [ID:nL2338955].

RHENIUM ROCKETS

Another speciality metal to benefit from a growing aerospace industry is rhenium, which is mined in Chile, Kazakhstan and the United States.

It sells for around $10,000 per kg, up around fivefold from late 2005, according to data from Anthony Lipmann, who trades metals for British firm Lipmann Walton & Co.

Though prices have risen dramatically, buyers such as Rolls-Royce (RR.L), General Electric (GE.N) and Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies (UTX.N), have not cut their consumption of the metal.

"Even at $10,000 per kg, the price as a proportion of a jet engine is peanuts," said a trader who attended the conference.

Another metal used in aircraft engineering is titanium.

China is projected to require 2,600 new jets worth $280 billion over the next 20 years, and India more than 900 large jets worth $100 billion within the same period, according to data from Mirko Grosso, account manager at titanium producer RTI International Metals (RTI.N).

As more planes are built, world titanium demand from the commercial and military aircraft industries will grow, he said, putting demand for the ultra-strong metal at around 170 million lbs in 2015, up from just under 100 million in 2007.

(Editing by Nigel Hunt)