A source from a major slab producer in Brazil told SteelOrbis that the company is buying niobium ferroalloys in ingots from the local producer CBMM at $23,000/mt, CFR, no taxes included, implying in a price increase of 18 percent in one month.
The company had previously decided not to buy the product in wire, as the price had exceeded the level of $30,000/mt for that format.
In February, the Brazilian exports of niobium ferroalloys went down from January by 13 percent to 5,500 mt, at an average FOB price 2.5 percent lower, $22,759/mt.
Exports by CBMM, the world’s largest producer, went down by 13 percent to 4,900 mt at $22,557/mt FOB, while exports by the local arm of Anglo American went down by 14 percent to 619 mt at $24,371/mt FOB.
The main destinations in February were the Netherlands (2,700 mt)—where CBMM maintains a distribution center—Asia (1,700 mt), and the US (1,000 mt).