China's domestic ferromolybdenum market has moved up slightly over the past week, on the back of higher prices of molybdenum concentrate and increased demand for ferromolybdenum. On the other hand, the domestic ferrovanadium market has remained stable against a background of sluggish demand and plentiful inventories on the producers' side.
Product name |
Specification |
Place of origin |
Price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
Ferromolybdenum |
Mo60 |
Jinzhou |
134,000 |
+2,000 |
20,150 |
+301 |
Ferrovanadium |
V50 |
Panzhihua |
99,000 |
14,776 |
Over the past week China's domestic ferromolybdenum market has moved up slightly. The mainstream quotations in the market in Jinzhou are at RMB 132,000-135,000/mt ($19,850-20,301/mt), up RMB 2,000/mt ($301/mt) week on week. Meanwhile, market quotations for domestic origin molybdenum concentrate (45 percent grade) are currently at RMB 1,950-2,000/mtu ($291-299/mtu), unchanged week on week. International ferromolybdenum prices have remained stable, with the current prices of bottled molybdenum oxide at $14.9-15.2/lb and with the European delivery prices of 60 percent Mo at $38-40/kg Mo.
Recently, there have been many purchases of ferromolybdenum by steel mills as well as increased inquiries, and so ferromolybdenum producers have raised their offer levels. Looking at the current market situation, purchase prices of steel mills are standing at around RMB 132,000/mt ($19,850/mt), lower than the average market price level. Meanwhile, the high prices of molybdenum concentrate have pushed up the costs of ferromolybdenum production. However, as there is no tightness in supplies of molybdenum concentrate, the uptrend in the ferromolybdenum market is expected to lack momentum in the coming period.
Ferrovanadium prices in China have remained stable during the past week. Currently, domestic quotations of ferrovanadium (50 percent) are in the range of RMB 98,000-100,000/mt ($14,627-14,925/mt), unchanged week on week, with prices of vanadium pentoxide (98 percent flakes) standing at RMB 90,000-92,000/mt ($13,433-13,731/mt), unchanged week on week. Meanwhile, in Europe, the ferrovanadium market has followed a stable trend. Quotations of vanadium pentoxide (98 percent flakes) are at $6.8-7.1/lb, while market quotations of ferrovanadium (V70-80) are at $30-31/kg.
Due to low demand from steel mills, activity in China's ferrovanadium market has been fairly quiet. Looking at the current situation, the ferrovanadium market is not expected to see any great change but will likely remain stable in the coming period.