China's domestic ferromolybdenum market has continued to climb up over the past week, though the increase rate has slowed down since ferromolybdenum enterprises have resumed production in Henan Province. On the other hand, the ferrovanadium market has continued to follow a weak trend, with not many transactions observed in the market.
Product name | Specification | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
Ferromolybdenum | Mo60 | Jinzhou | 147,000 | +4,000 | 22,072 | +601 |
Ferrovanadium | V50 | Panzhihua | 96,000 | -1,000 | 14,414 | -150 |
Over the past week China's domestic ferromolybdenum market prices have followed a rising trend, as in previous weeks. The mainstream quotations in the market in Jinzhou are at RMB 145,000-148,000/mt ($21,772-22,222/mt), up RMB 4,000/mt ($601/mt) week on week. Meanwhile, market quotations for domestic origin molybdenum concentrate (45 percent grade) are currently at RMB 2,150-2,200/mtu ($323-330/mtu), up RMB 50/mt ($7/mt) week on week. International ferromolybdenum prices have also continued to move up, with the current prices of bottled molybdenum oxide at $15.8-16.1/lb and with the European delivery prices of 60 percent Mo at $39.8-41.5/kg Mo.
Currently, supplies of molybdenum concentrate are still tight, while purchase prices of domestic steel mills have increased. Purchase prices from most steel mills now exceed RMB 145,000/mt ($21,772/mt) and domestic retail offers are at RMB 148,000/mt ($22,222/mt). The volume of purchases from domestic steelmakers has also increased. In this overall context, domestic market prices of ferromolybdenum have started to rise, increasing by around RMB 20,000/mt ($3,003/mt) week on week. With some ferromolybdenum enterprises thought likely to resume production, the ferromolybdenum market may become more stable in the coming period.
Ferrovanadium prices in China have continued to follow their downward trend over the past week. Currently, domestic quotations of ferrovanadium (50 percent) are now in the range of RMB 95,000-96,000/mt ($14,264-14,414/mt), down RMB 1,000/mt ($150/mt) week on week, with prices of vanadium pentoxide (98 percent flakes) standing at RMB 85,000-87,000/mt ($12,763-13,063/mt), down RMB 1,000/mt ($150/mt) week on week. Meanwhile, in Europe, the ferrovanadium market has declined slightly. Quotations of vanadium pentoxide (98 percent flakes) are at $6.8-7.1/lb, while market quotations of ferrovanadium (V70-80) are at $29.2-30.5/kg.
There has been a low volume of transactions in the ferrovanadium market over the past week. Purchase prices from steel mills have continued to decline week on week, and are now lower than RMB 95,000/mt ($14,264/mt). Offer price levels from traders and manufacturers have also continued to decline. With production costs of ferrovanadium still remaining at high levels, the ferrovanadium market is unlikely to dip greatly in the coming period. In addition, although the prices of vanadium pentoxide have dropped slightly, prices still remain at high levels in general.