Date: Feb 13, 2019
The European ferro-vanadium market largely held steady in the week ended Friday February 8, with spot market activity subdued once again.
Spot prices for European ferro-vanadiumnarrowed to $77-79 per kg on February 8, from $76.70-79.10 per kg during the mid-week assessment on Wednesday, according to Fastmarkets’ calculations.
Prices have been fairly stable over the past two weeks while the market awaited the return of Chinese participants after their Lunar New Year holiday.
“With all of China on holiday, there was really nothing happening. Everyone seemed to want to wait until they returned from the holiday to see what direction the market may be headed,” a supplier source said.
Some market participants suspected that there would be stronger vanadium pricing when the Chinese returned.
“We are expecting better numbers after the Chinese return. There should be a lot more buying activity at that time,” a second supplier source said.
Meanwhile, the European vanadium pentoxide market became firmer over the week despite limited trading liquidity.
European vanadium pentoxide pricesstrengthened to $17.00-17.50 per lb on February 8, up by 2.22% from $16.50-17.25 per lb the week before, according to Fastmarkets.
