On June 14, Japanese producer Toho Titanium shut down its Chigasaki plant near Tokyo after an explosion earlier this month, which is now fully back up and running.

In an interview with Argus, a representative of the company said that the explosion on June 9 caused some damage to the 9,600-tonne-per-year titanium sponge plant, but that it had been fully repaired by June 14.

The representative said the plant was running at almost full capacity, adding that there would be no impact on production and transportation due to "very limited" damage to the production line. The company said sales offset some of its inventory.

The company did not disclose the cause of the explosion, but the explosion occurred at the titanium sponge plant. The company also manufactures polyolefin catalysts at its Chigasaki plant.

Global demand for titanium sponge for aerospace and defense applications will be about 79,000 tonnes in 2024 and is expected to increase to about 90,000 tonnes by 2028 and 102,000 tonnes by 2031, the company said.