And the strength, lightness, high melting point and ability to resist corrosion of titanium make it an ideal material for building aircraft parts, supercars and medical implants but it can cost 50 times as much as steel.

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German carmaker BMW - SGL Automotive's only customer and owner of 49% of its shares - uses the material to produce body parts for the main cabins of its futuristic plug-in models i3 Megacity and i8 sports car, which will hit the road in 2013 and 2014.

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For instance, Arrow keeps three material planners on-site at AMX who handle parts flow and look for ways to substitute parts that Arrow can supply for less.

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If it succeeds, the material could be used for jet-engine parts, allowing them to run at higher, more efficient temperatures.

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