Ferrotitanium Grades, Chemistry and Procurement Checklist

What Ferrotitanium Is and Where It Fits in Steelmaking

Ferrotitanium is a master alloy of titanium and iron, delivered to steel mills and foundries as a controlled-composition additive rather than as a finished metal. Titanium has a strong affinity for oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and sulphur, so when the alloy enters liquid steel it first strips residual oxygen and nitrogen from the bath, and the titanium that survives this cleaning action then combines with nitrogen and carbon to form stable particles that pin grain boundaries and refine the as-cast structure. Iron acts mainly as a carrier: it lowers the melting range of the addition and brings its density closer to that of liquid steel, which makes dissolution and distribution far easier than adding pure titanium sponge or loose titanium turnings.

Three properties explain almost every clause that appears in a ferrotitanium specification. The first is titanium content, which sets the alloying value of the material. The second is the aluminium and silicon content, which comes from the reduction chemistry and from the feedstock, and which effectively announces how the material was produced. The third is the set of carbon, phosphorus and sulphur limits, which decide whether a given lot is acceptable for a specific steel grade. Because titanium is one of the strongest deoxidisers used in the melt shop, a portion of every addition is always burned by the bath, and the recovery rate rather than the nominal titanium content alone is what the melting department actually buys.

Standard Grades and Indicative Chemical Composition

Commercial ferrotitanium is traded in three broad families. The lower-grade FeTi30 and FeTi40 types dominate bulk deoxidation and grain refinement because their cost per unit of contained titanium is lower and their higher aluminium content is tolerable in semi-killed and aluminium-killed structural steel practice. The high-grade FeTi70 family is selected where the aluminium, silicon and carbon load must stay low: titanium-stabilised austenitic stainless steels such as the 321 type (UNS S32100), selected HSLA and interstitial-free grades, and welding consumables where the coating or core chemistry is tightly controlled. Grade designation, chemical limits, size fraction and packaging are normally stated against the ferrotitanium product standard GB/T 3282, with sampling and chemical analysis handled under GB/T 4010 and ISO 3713, and particle size determination under GB/T 13247.

Grade	Ti (%)	Al (%) max	Si (%) max	C (%) max	P (%) max	S (%) max	Dominant route
FeTi30	25.0 - 35.0	8.0	5.0	0.15	0.06	0.04	Aluminothermic or electric furnace
FeTi40	35.0 - 45.0	9.0	3.0	0.15	0.05	0.04	Aluminothermic
FeTi70	65.0 - 75.0	3.0	1.0	0.20	0.04	0.03	Aluminothermic, high-grade feedstock

The values in the table are indicative commercial ranges of the kind written into mill purchase agreements, not a substitute for the current edition of the product standard. Two practical consequences follow from them. First, a buyer who compares offers only on titanium content will miss the aluminium spread, which can differ by several percent between a cheap and an expensive lot, and which matters in any steel with a tight aluminium ceiling. Second, the phosphorus and sulphur ceilings of FeTi70 are roughly half those of FeTi30, and that difference, rather than the titanium number, is what limits FeTi70 to premium applications.

Titanium Feedstocks and the Reduction Routes

Ferrotitanium is produced by reducing a titanium-bearing feedstock with aluminium, carbon or a combination of both, and the choice of feedstock is what separates the grades commercially. Rutile concentrates in the 90% TiO2 class and titanium-rich slags are the classic aluminothermic feeds; ilmenite, a natural iron titanium oxide, is used where the resulting iron content is acceptable. Off-grade titanium sponge, titanium machining turnings and clean titanium scrap are increasingly used as feedstock for the high-grade FeTi70 family, because they introduce titanium with very little aluminium and silicon, allowing the producer to hold aluminium below 3% and silicon below 1%.

In the aluminothermic route, aluminium powder or granule is mixed with the titanium feedstock and thermite ignition starts a strongly exothermic reaction that produces a molten button of ferrotitanium and a calcium aluminate type slag. The aluminium content of the metal is determined by the excess reductant charged, by the slag basicity and by the cooling practice, so the same furnace can be steered towards a lower-aluminium or a higher-titanium analysis, at a cost in yield. The solidified button is then crushed, screened and sometimes demagnetised to remove iron-rich fines, and the resulting fractions are packed to order. Electric furnace practice, using carbon as the reductant with a lower titanium recovery, remains in use for the cheaper FeTi30 grades where the residual carbon limit can be met. A third practical process step is blending: because aluminothermic buttons vary from the top to the bottom of the ingot, producers homogenise and remix before sizing, and the certificate of analysis is issued on the homogenised lot.

Physical Behaviour in the Ladle and the Furnace

Ferrotitanium sits in a density band of roughly five to six and a half grams per cubic centimetre, depending on the titanium content and the residual aluminium, so it is lighter than liquid steel and considerably lighter than ferromolybdenum or ferrotungsten. That density gap is helpful: the lumps tend to stay in the upper part of the bath long enough to dissolve rather than dropping straight to the bottom, which is why ferrotitanium is often added to the ladle during tapping with argon stirring, or in the furnace when the slag is fully reducing. The material dissolves readily at steelmaking temperatures; the real limitation is not melting but chemistry, because every second the addition spends in an oxidising bath consumes titanium.

Titanium recovery is therefore the single most useful internal number for anybody buying this alloy. In routine ladle practice with argon stirring, recovery of titanium from ferrotitanium commonly falls into the range of one third to two thirds of the titanium charged, and it drops towards the lower end whenever the bath is oxidised, the slag is not fully reduced, the addition is made too early, or the material is very fine and burns at the surface. Highly reactive oxygen and nitrogen levels, high tapping temperature with long exposure, and very fine sizing fractions all push recovery down. This is why experienced buyers never evaluate ferrotitanium on cost per tonne of alloy alone, but on cost per kilogram of titanium that actually reports to the steel.

Size Fractions, Packaging and Delivery Basis

Particle size is not a cosmetic detail. Fine fractions dissolve faster but oxidise at the surface of the bath and are easily lost in fume; coarse fractions penetrate the bath but can sit undissolved in the ladle bottom if stirring is weak. Size tolerances, and in particular the permitted oversize and undersize proportions, are verified under GB/T 13247, and packing and marking follow GB/T 3650.

Size fraction	Typical consumption point	Packing normally quoted
0.5 - 3 mm (powder / granule)	Welding electrode coatings, cored wire filling, powder injection	25 kg or 50 kg lined steel drum
3 - 10 mm	Ladle addition with stirring, wire feeding blends	50 kg drum or 1 t big bag
10 - 50 mm (lump)	Converter and electric furnace addition, ladle trimming	1 t big bag or 250 kg drum
10 - 100 mm (coarse lump)	Furnace addition into deep slag-free baths	1 t big bag, loose in container

Each of these fractions carries a different screening cost, a different surface-to-mass ratio and therefore a different oxidation loss, so a size basis must be written into the purchase document together with the analysis. Packing also decides moisture behaviour in transit: lined drums and moisture-barrier liners keep the fines from picking up water, which otherwise shows up as surface oxidation and a visibly lower active titanium content on arrival. Delivery basis must state whether the price applies ex-works, free on board or delivered with cost and freight, whether tax is included, and in which currency, because these three items move a landed cost far more than a few tenths of a percent of titanium.

How Ferrotitanium Prices Are Formed

Ferrotitanium has no exchange-traded reference contract, so its price is built up from four identifiable cost blocks and is quoted per lot. The first block is the titanium unit itself: rutile, titanium-rich slag, titanium sponge and titanium scrap all move with titanium demand from aerospace, chemical and consumer markets, and the feedstock can represent more than half of the final cost. The second is the reductant and energy package: aluminium powder in the aluminothermic route, carbon and electricity in furnace practice, with electricity cost moving sharply between the low-tariff and high-tariff seasons of the year. The third is the conversion chain: crushing, screening, remelting or homogenising, sizing loss, and the yield penalty taken when the analysis is pushed towards low aluminium or high titanium. The fourth block is logistics and compliance: inland transport to port, container stuffing, ocean freight, insurance, currency movement, and the export documentation regime that applies to alloy shipments.

Two lots that both claim FeTi70 can therefore differ substantially in price while both being correct offers, because one may carry 1.5% aluminium and the other 2.9%, one may be screened 10 to 50 mm and the other 10 to 100 mm, one may be packed in lined drums and the other loose in a container, and one may be offered ex-works and the other delivered and duty paid. For market-facing discussion this is the useful way to talk about ferrotitanium values: not a single national number, but a spread explained by grade, analysis, size, packing, delivery basis and timing. Seasonal electricity windows, quarter-end inventory positions and shipping space availability add their own rhythm on top of that base structure, and none of those variables can be read from a single dated figure.

Comparing Offers on a Like-for-Like Basis

The practical method is to normalise every offer to a common basis before comparing numbers. Convert the price per tonne of alloy into a price per kilogram of contained titanium, using the certified analysis rather than the grade name. Then adjust for the value of the aluminium and silicon that the buyer is also paying for and may not want, deduct an allowance for the cost of handling an off-analysis lot, and add the freight, insurance and tax position to reach a landed delivered cost per kilogram of recovered titanium. Only at that point is the comparison meaningful.

The parameter list that should accompany a technical comparison is short but unforgiving: grade designation; titanium, aluminium, silicon, carbon, phosphorus, sulphur, copper and manganese limits in percent; size fraction with oversize and undersize tolerances; net mass per packing unit; quantity per lot and per shipment; delivery basis and tax status; currency; shipment window; and the documents required, normally a certificate of analysis or mill test certificate, a packing list, a certificate of origin and a pre-shipment analysis where the steel grade is critical. Adding the intended steel grade and the melting route to the same list lets the supplier propose the cheapest acceptable grade instead of the highest one, which is frequently the difference between an economical and an expensive heat. Acceptance should be tied to the standards already named: sampling and analysis under GB/T 4010 and ISO 3713, sizing under GB/T 13247, and packing and marking under GB/T 3650.

Storage, Handling and Common Misjudgements

Ferrotitanium is chemically stable in dry air and forms a thin coherent oxide film that slows further oxidation, which is one reason it can be stored for long periods without catastrophic deterioration. It does not behave aggressively towards chlorine, bromine or nitric acid the way some reactive metals do, but fine aluminium-bearing material should still be kept under cover, off concrete floors that stay damp, and away from open flames and hot work, because moist fines oxidise and can warm up in a heap. Good practice is a dry, ventilated store, packing left intact until issue, first-in first-out rotation, and a moisture check on any drum that has been standing for months.

Several recurring misjudgements cost buyers money. Treating all FeTi70 as chemically identical ignores the aluminium and silicon spread that can dominate behaviour in a low-carbon, low-aluminium steel. Buying on cost per tonne of alloy rather than per kilogram of contained titanium hides yield differences between grades and sizes. Expecting ferrotitanium to behave like ferromanganese or ferrosilicon in the ladle over-estimates recovery, because titanium is far more readily oxidised. Charging a very fine fraction into an open furnace, then complaining about recovery, is a sizing mistake rather than a material failure. And accepting a lot on the strength of a grade name alone, without a certified analysis taken under GB/T 4010 or ISO 3713 and without the size check under GB/T 13247, leaves no objective basis if the heat subsequently fails to make specification.

FAQ

Q: Which ferrotitanium grade is used for grain refinement in structural steel?
FeTi30 and FeTi40 are the normal choices for carbon and structural steel, because they deliver titanium at the lowest cost per contained unit and their higher aluminium and silicon content is acceptable in killed or semi-killed practice. FeTi70 is reserved for grades where aluminium, silicon and carbon must stay low.

Q: What titanium recovery should be expected when ferrotitanium is added to the ladle?
In routine ladle practice with argon stirring, recovery commonly falls between one third and two thirds of the titanium charged. It improves with a fully reduced slag, a low oxygen bath, correctly sized lumps and adequate stirring, and falls with oxidising conditions, excessive fines and long exposure at temperature.

Q: What is the difference between FeTi30, FeTi40 and FeTi70?
The difference is the titanium level and the accompanying impurity limits. FeTi30 carries roughly 25 to 35% Ti with aluminium up to about 8%, FeTi40 roughly 35 to 45% Ti, and FeTi70 roughly 65 to 75% Ti with aluminium around 3% maximum and silicon around 1% maximum under the GB/T 3282 family of specifications.

Q: How is ferrotitanium sampled and analysed for acceptance?
Sampling and sample preparation follow GB/T 4010 for chemical analysis and ISO 3713 for ferroalloy lot sampling, while particle size is determined under GB/T 13247. The certificate should state the lot or heat number, the certified titanium, aluminium, silicon, carbon, phosphorus and sulphur values, and the size fraction actually shipped.

Q: Why does the density of ferrotitanium matter in the ladle?
At roughly five to six and a half grams per cubic centimetre, ferrotitanium is lighter than liquid steel, so it floats and dissolves rather than sinking through the bath. This is why it is normally added during tapping with stirring, and why very coarse lumps without stirring can remain undissolved while very fine powder is lost to oxidation at the surface.

Q: How should ferrotitanium values be compared between different offers?
Convert each proposal to a cost per kilogram of contained titanium using the certified analysis, adjust for the aluminium and silicon content and for any size or packing difference, and then add freight, insurance and tax to reach a landed delivered basis. Only offers normalised to the same grade, analysis, size, packing and delivery basis can be compared directly.