Date: Nov 22, 2017
Frame contracts for ferro-vanadium have been agreed with discounts against third-party references in a range of 3-5% in Europe and the United States for 2018, multiple sources told Metal Bulletin.
Contracts also incorporate other terms that favor sellers amid expectations of rising demand and tightening supply of the alloy, delegates said on the sidelines of Metal Bulletin’s 33rd International Ferro-alloys conference in Lisbon, Portugal, this week. Ferro-vanadium prices have soared in 2017, driven higher by environmental inspections in China and subsequent concerns about tight supply. Metal Bulletin’s price assessment for ferro-vanadium stands at $40-41.50 per kg, delivered duty-paid in Europe, up from $23.10-24 per kg at the time of last year’s IFA conference in Prague. European prices had dipped below $13 per kg during contract negotiations in 2015. In the US, ferro-vanadium is trading in a range of $19.25-20 per lb, in-warehouse Pittsburgh, according to American Metal Market’s latest assessment, compared with $10.90-11.50 per lb a year ago. While some discounts – largely set against reference prices set by Metal Bulletin and American Metal Market – have been agreed on the…
