Boeing's Russian titanium venture with VSMPO begins production

Boeing Co. said its Russian titanium- producing joint venture began operating today, giving the world's second-largest commercial-aircraft maker a bigger supply of a metal used increasingly for lightweight components.

The partnership with OAO VSMPO-Avisma, the world's biggest titanium producer, is part of a $27 billion investment program Boeing has planned in Russia over the next 30 years, company executives said at a news conference in Moscow. The Ural Boeing Manufacturing venture will provide titanium forgings for Boeing's planned 787 Dreamliner model.

"Ural Boeing Manufacturing will change the way the aircraft are built and will play a critical role in advancing this industry," Scott Carson, head of Chicago-based Boeing's airliner division, said at the news conference.

Titanium is the most extensively used material in Boeing's latest aircraft as rising oil prices encourage airlines to buy lighter planes that use less fuel. Almost 20 percent of the 250- seat Dreamliner will be composed of the metal. The venture's startup, unveiled during U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Moscow, proceeded after Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service said on June 30 that Boeing may hold a 69.5 percent stake.

Boeing and VSMPO, based in the Ural Mountains city of Verkhnaya Salda, agreed in 2007 to set up the venture. Ural Boeing Manufacturing will perform preliminary machining of 800 forgings a year provided by VSMPO's titanium mill, according to that contract. Final processing will be completed at a Boeing plant in Portland, Oregon.

The U.S. company's design center in Moscow contracts out development work with 1,200 Russian engineers for the 787's wing flaps and the nose section. Boeing also cooperates with Russia on the International Space Station and OAO Sukhoi Aviation Holding Co. on its SuperJet-100 regional airplane. – Chicago Daily Herald

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