China’s special alloys market still shows positive performance

The Chinese special alloys market continued to move up in the past week, with recovering market confidence and climbing prices in the international market appearing as the main sources of support for local market prices.

In recent days China's domestic ferromolybdenum market again climbed up slightly, influenced by the tight supply of molybdenum concentrate in the local market and by the rise in quotations of imported molybdenum oxide. By the end of last week, the mainstream prices of ferromolybdenum in Jingzhou were up sharply, by RMB 3,000/mt ($440/mt), to the range of RMB 108,000-113,000/mt ($15,836-16,569/mt), while the market prices of molybdenum concentrate (45 percent) were around RMB 1,700/mtu ($249/mtu), up RMB 50/mtu ($7/mtu) week on week.

Affected by the continuous price increase and supply shortage of molybdenum oxide in the international market, prices of molybdenum concentrate in the domestic market have climbed to the level of RMB 1,700/mtu, with a positive situation as regards deals being observed in recent days. Meanwhile, considering the soaring quotations of imported molybdenum oxide, some Chinese molybdenum alloy producers began to purchase molybdenum concentrate for their production. At present, there is a shortage of domestic ferromolybdenum supplies in the context of the strong increase seen in demand, and as a result the mills have raised their purchase prices above the level of RMB 105,000/mt ($15,396/mt). In addition, the international market has retained its positive movement over the past week. Currently, European market prices of ferromolybdenum (60 percent Mo) are in the range of $23.5-24.5/kg Mo while prices of molybdenum oxide are around $9.5-10.5/kg Mo.

The Chinese vanadium alloys market also continued to climb over the past week. At present, domestic quotations of ferrovanadium (50 percent) are up RMB 5,000/mt ($733/mt) to RMB 95,000/mt ($13,930/mt), with vanadium pentoxide (98 percent flakes) up by RMB 3,000/mt ($440/mt) to RMB 85,000-90,000/mt ($12,463-13,196/mt). Meanwhile, in the international market, the quotations of vanadium pentoxide (98 percent flakes) in Europe have risen to $3.8-4.5/lb, while market quotations of ferrovanadium (V70-80%) are in the range of $18-19.5/kg V.

Following the rebound recorded in the overall global vanadium alloys market, it remains to be seen whether market demand will be sustained in the future. In China, demand from domestic mills has continued to be inadequate, while only limited purchases are being made by some small mills. Moreover, due to the rebound in the international vanadium market, prices of vanadium pentoxide in the China's domestic market have remained steady in the past week, and some suppliers of vanadium pentoxide have begun to hike their prices, thus pushing up the market levels to a certain extent. Looking at the current situation, a further recovery in market demand is still essential for vanadium alloys prices to continue to move on a rising trend.