Niles, Ohio - RMI Titanium Company (NYSE;RTI) announced today that it has signed an exclusive agreement with NKK Titanium U.S.A. Corporation to develop, produce and market titanium mill products from SP-700 alloy throughout North and South America and Europe. The agreement provides for product manufacturing at RMI's facilities, with NKK providing technical support. The cooperative agreement is the result of RMI's supply of SP-700 product to NKK over the past several years and a one-year joint study to determine potential expansion of markets for the alloy.

SP-700 is an NKK patented alloy that has superior forming characteristics compared with currently available titanium alloys. The alloy can be fabricated or formed to near-net shape at low temperatures, thus significantly reducing the cost of producing a titanium component. This superior formability, combined with excellent strength properties, makes the alloy attractive for applications ranging from golf club heads to critical airframe structures and rotating jet engine fan blades.

NKK Titanium U.S.A. is an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of NKK, Japan's second largest steel company and the majority shareholder in National Steel Corporation, the fourth largest integrated steel producer in the United States.