BEIJING (Asian Metal) 3 Jul 20 – Due to the high cost of raw materials, producers of vanadium nitride refuse to accept orders below their cost line. Cheap resources reduced significantly this week. At the moment, mainstream prices of Chinese vanadium nitride stand at RMB162,000-165,000 (USD29.8-30.3/kg V) EXW D/A 180 days, up by RMB3,000/t (USD0.6/kg V) from this Monday. As most suppliers are not in hurry to accept orders for immediate shipment, insiders believe that mainstream prices of vanadium nitride would stay in a stalemate in the coming week.
“We quote RMB167,000/t (USD30.7/kg V) EXW D/A 180 days but our steel mill clients refuse to accept at more than RMB165,000/t (USD30.3/kg V) now. To be frank, we could only guarantee our basic cost at this price level,” a producer in South China said. They could accept RMB162,000/t (USD29.8/kg V) one week ago for their history inventory but they won’t accept any orders below RMB165,000/t (USD30.3/kg V) this week. They bought 64t of vanadium pentoxide 98%min early this week. Among them, 32t at RMB105,000/t (USD6.9/lb V2O5) EXW D/P and another 32t at RMB105,500/t (USD6.9/lb V2O5) EXWD D/P. Supported by the cost of raw material, he believes that their dealing prices of vanadium nitride could increase to RMB168,000/t (USD30.9/kg V) EXW D/A 180 days in the coming week.
With an annual production capacity of 6,000t, they produced about 3,000t in 2019 and about 1,500t in the first 6 months this year. They expect to produce about 400t in June, unchanged from May, holding about 80t of stocks now, up by 30t from last month.
“We sold 20t to one of our regular clients at RMB162,000/t (USD29.8/kg V) EXW D/A 180 days early last week and now we won’t accept any orders below RMB165,000/t (USD30.3/kg V),” another producer in South China noted. He received the current prices of raw material vanadium pentoxide flake 98%min at RMB105,000/t (USD6.9/lb V2O5) EXW D/P, unchanged from one week ago. As prices of raw material stay steady, he believes that mainstream prices of vanadium nitride would keep firm in the coming week.
With an annual production capacity of 1,400t, they produced about 1,200t in 2019 and only about 350t in the first half of this year due to the COVID-19. They produced about 105t in June and expect the same volume in July, holding about 200t of stocks at the moment, unchanged from last month.
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