Chinese molybdenum concentrate prices keep dropping
2023-03-29 07:42:42 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 29 Mar 23 - Due to the soft demand from terminal users, Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min market saw growing inventory and the market mentality stayed negative during the past week. Currently, the mainstream prices of Chinese concentrate 45%min stand at RMB3,180-3,200/mtu (USD21.1-21.3/lb Mo) EXW D/P, down by RMB320/mtu (USD2.1/lb Mo) from late last week. Considering that most suppliers prefer to clear their inventory as soon as possible and the sufficient supply in spot market continues, insiders believe that the mainstream prices of Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min would keep moving down in the coming week.
"As terminal users' demand reduced a lot, buyers all prefer to watch the market now. In order to guarantee our market competitiveness, we could accept RMB3,200/mtu (USD21.3/lb Mo) for firm bids now," said a producer in South China. They just sold 32t of molybdenum concentrate 45%min at this price level this Monday and their regular clients only want to purchase at prices no more than RMB3,000/mtu (USD19.9/lb Mo) now. However, clients could still accept RMB3500/mtu (USD23.3/lb Mo) just one week ago. Bidding prices of ferromolybdenum 60%min they inquired dropped to the latest around RMB197,500/t (USD48.2/kg Mo) delivered D/A 180 days. Considering that downstream market couldn't offer any effective support now, they expect that the mainstream prices of Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min would drop below RMB3,000/mtu (USD19.9/lb Mo) in the coming week.
With an annual production capacity of 2,400t, they produced about 1,450t in 2022 and about 200t so far this year. The producer expects to produce about 100t in March, almost the same volume as last month, holding around 160t of inventories for the moment, up by about 60t MoM.
"No consumers would like to add inventory for the moment as steel mills' ferromolybdenum demand keep reducing. For firm bids of molybdenum concentrate 45%min, we could accept RMB3,200/mtu (USD21.3/lb Mo) EXW D/P now," said another producer in South China. They last sold 32t of molybdenum concentrate 45%min at RMB3,300/mtu (USD21.9/lb Mo) late last week when they quoted at RMB3,500/mtu (USD23.3/lb Mo) at that time. Considering that their inventory keeps growing and the current rare inquiries in spot market continues, they predict that the mainstream prices of Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min would drop to around RMB2,400/mtu (USD16/lb Mo) in the coming two weeks.
With an annual production capacity of 4,800t, they produced about 1,000t in 2022 and about 110t so far this year. They didn't produce in February due to the annual overhaul and expect about 70t this month. They have about 30t of stocks now, up by about 30t MoM.
"As terminal users' demand reduced a lot, buyers all prefer to watch the market now. In order to guarantee our market competitiveness, we could accept RMB3,200/mtu (USD21.3/lb Mo) for firm bids now," said a producer in South China. They just sold 32t of molybdenum concentrate 45%min at this price level this Monday and their regular clients only want to purchase at prices no more than RMB3,000/mtu (USD19.9/lb Mo) now. However, clients could still accept RMB3500/mtu (USD23.3/lb Mo) just one week ago. Bidding prices of ferromolybdenum 60%min they inquired dropped to the latest around RMB197,500/t (USD48.2/kg Mo) delivered D/A 180 days. Considering that downstream market couldn't offer any effective support now, they expect that the mainstream prices of Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min would drop below RMB3,000/mtu (USD19.9/lb Mo) in the coming week.
With an annual production capacity of 2,400t, they produced about 1,450t in 2022 and about 200t so far this year. The producer expects to produce about 100t in March, almost the same volume as last month, holding around 160t of inventories for the moment, up by about 60t MoM.
"No consumers would like to add inventory for the moment as steel mills' ferromolybdenum demand keep reducing. For firm bids of molybdenum concentrate 45%min, we could accept RMB3,200/mtu (USD21.3/lb Mo) EXW D/P now," said another producer in South China. They last sold 32t of molybdenum concentrate 45%min at RMB3,300/mtu (USD21.9/lb Mo) late last week when they quoted at RMB3,500/mtu (USD23.3/lb Mo) at that time. Considering that their inventory keeps growing and the current rare inquiries in spot market continues, they predict that the mainstream prices of Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min would drop to around RMB2,400/mtu (USD16/lb Mo) in the coming two weeks.
With an annual production capacity of 4,800t, they produced about 1,000t in 2022 and about 110t so far this year. They didn't produce in February due to the annual overhaul and expect about 70t this month. They have about 30t of stocks now, up by about 30t MoM.
