GLOBAL VANADIUM WRAP: Chinese export prices stall; European FeV rebounds in tightening market

• Chinese vanadium export prices steady amid thin trading activity
• European ferro-vanadium prices rebound on signs of inventory tightness
• Ferro-vanadium market weaker in the United States, with traders reducing positions

Prices for fob China ferro-vanadium were unchanged over the past week, with thin spot market deals while most consumption has been well covered by long-term contracts. Meanwhile, export prices for vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) widened, with suppliers holding different opinions on the direction of the market going forward.

Metal Bulletin’s latest assessment for fob China ferro-vanadium, minimum 78%, was unchanged week on week at $63-66 per kilogram on Thursday May 24.

“Offers for ferro-vanadium min 78% with aluminium max 1.5% are roughly stable at $63-66, and we heard bids at $62 but no deals at low prices are reported until now,” one ferro-vanadium exporter said.

The market saw $62 offers for ferro-vanadium 78% with 4% aluminium, sources told Metal Bulletin.

“For low-quality or with high-aluminium ferro-vanadium, there are deals at around $62 [per kg],” a second ferro-vanadium exporter said.

“Domestic demand [for ferro-vanadium] from [the] rebar sector has been robust in May, and data show that purchases [from rebar mills] rose 15% [month on month] in May,” a major ferro-vanadium exporter told Metal Bulletin, adding that he has been quoting $65 per kg for cargoes during the past three weeks.

Metal Bulletin’s assessment for V2O5 fob China widened to $14.20-14.90 per Ib on May 24 from $14.30-14.80 the previous week.

“Tightness in China’s domestic market continues, and I held my offers at $14.50-14.90 per Ib,” one Hubei-based producer/exporter said.

But an exporter in another major production hub, Liaoning province, reported that he lowered offers to $14.20 from $14.30 due to thin inquiries from overseas markets over the past week.