In the past week China's domestic ferromolybdenum market initially continued its downward trend before gradually becoming stable on the back of the significant price increase in the global market. Meanwhile, prices have continued to decrease in the local ferrovanadium market.
Product name | Specification | Place of Origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
Ferromolybdenum | Mo60 | Jinzhou | 132,000 | -2,000 | 19,355 | -293 |
Ferrovanadium | V50 | Panzhihua | 97,000 | -3,000 | 14,223 | -440 |
China's domestic ferromolybdenum market has switched from a declining to a stable trend in line with the price increase in molybdenum ore. The mainstream quotations in the market are at RMB 130,000-135,000/mt ($19,062-19,795/mt), down RMB 2,000/mt ($293/mt) week on week, while market quotations for domestic origin ferromolybdenum concentrate (45 percent grade) are at RMB 2,000-2,050/mtu ($293-301/mtu), up RMB 50/mtu ($7/mtu) week on week. International prices have rallied significantly, with the current prices of bottled molybdenum oxide at $15-16/lb and with the European delivery prices of 60 percent Mo at $39-40/kg Mo.
The trend in China's domestic ferromolybdenum market can be attributed to the significant price increase in the global market. With the European ferromolybdenum market rallying after its decline to $36-38/kg Mo, demand from the international markets has increased to some extent. Looking at the current situation, the market is expected to follow an upward trend in the coming period.
The Chinese ferrovanadium market has trended down during the past week. Domestic quotations of ferrovanadium (50 percent) are now in the range of RMB 95,000-98,000/mt ($13,930-14,370/mt), down RMB 3,000/mt ($440/mt) week on week, with vanadium pentoxide (98 percent flakes) standing at RMB 85,000-88,000/mt ($12,463-12,903/mt), down RMB 4,000/mt ($587/mt) week on week. Meanwhile, in the international market, quotations of vanadium pentoxide (98 percent flakes) are at $6.9-7.5/lb, while market quotations of ferrovanadium (V70-80) have been at €29-30.5/kg.
Since current ferrovanadium prices are at rather low levels, producers and traders are reluctant to sell their materials at current levels, while traders and mills have been awaiting bottom prices of ferrovanadium before they purchase. As a result, the transaction situation in the market has been very quiet. Currently, the purchase price for ferrovanadium (V50) is around RMB 92,000-93,000/mt ($13,490-13,636/mt), still far lower than the mainstream price in the market. Meanwhile, quotations of vanadium pentoxide have been declining further, with few deals concluded.