BEIJING (Asian Metal) 20 Jul 20 – Currently, mainstream prices of European ferrovanadium 80%min and ferrovanadium 50%min stand at USD22.2-23.2/kg V, USD20-21/kg V in warehouse Rotterdam, down by USD0.5/kg V from two weeks ago. Consumers only purchase according to urgent need and most suppliers face huge sales pressure at the moment. As the demand could hardly rebound in the coming week, insiders believe that mainstream prices of European ferrovanadium would keep weak in the coming week.
“During the past month, none of our regular clients in Europe has demand for ferrovanadium 80%min, so we only produce ferrovanadium 50%min,” a producer from Middle Europe said. Because of lack of inquiries, they have to drop their quotation to USD21/kg V in warehouse Rotterdam now but still could hardly increase their sales quantity. They sold 20t at USD20.8/kg V to one of their regular clients late last week. As the summer holiday arrived and European market keeps quiet, he believes that mainstream prices of European ferrovanadium would keep weak in the coming week.
With an annual production capacity of 1,200t, the produced about 960t in 2019 and about 360t in the first half of this year. They expect to produce about 60t in July, unchanged from June. In order to avoid sales risk, they only produce according to orders during the past months, holding no stocks now.
“We sold 20t of ferrovanadium 80%min to one of our regular clients at USD22.3/kg V in warehouse Rotterdam early last week,” a trader from West Europe noted. They quote ferrovanadium 50%min at USD21/kg V at the moment. They only sell in European market but due to the COVID-19 and the summer holiday, inquiries from end consumers stay rare and they have to drop their quotation to make their prices more competitive. Considering that the demand in Europe shows no sign of picking up, he believes that mainstream prices of European ferrovanadium would face significant downward pressure in the coming week.
With a regular trading volume of 60tpm, they sold about 700t in 2019 and only about 240t in the first 6 months of this year. They expect to sell 40t in July, the same as June, holding about 20t of regular stocks now.
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