Chinese molybdenum concentrate prices slump
2023-04-17 08:32:05 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 17 Apr 23 - As most producers faced growing inventory pressure, Chinese molybdenum concentrate market mentality kept negative during the past week. Currently, the mainstream prices of Chinese concentrate 45%min stand at RMB2,680-2,700/mtu (USD17.8-17.9/lb Mo) EXW D/P, down by RMB220/mtu (USD1.5/lb Mo) from early last week. Considering that downstream market couldn't offer any effective support and the sufficient supply in spot market continues, insiders believe that the mainstream prices of Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min would keep slumping in the coming week.
"As ferromolybdenum prices keep moving down, consumers all prefer to watch the market now. According to the feedback of our regular clients, we could only sell molybdenum concentrate 45%min at prices no more than RMB2,700/mtu (USD17.9/lb Mo) EXW D/P for the moment," said a producer in South China. They just sold about 64t of molybdenum concentrate 45%min at this price level late last week. However, they refused to sell at any prices below RMB2,900/mtu (USD19.3/lb Mo) just one week ago. Considering that the slumping ferromolybdenum 60%min prices couldn't offer any effective support now, 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 week.
With an annual production capacity of 2,400t, they produced about 1,450t in 2022 and about 250t so far this year. The producer expects to produce about 100t in April, almost the same volume as March, holding around 300t of inventories for the moment, up by about 140t MoM.
"As terminal users reduced their consumption due to the soft economic, we faced increasing inventory pressure so far this month. In order to promote sales, we could accept RMB2,680/mtu (USD17.8/lb Mo) EXW D/P now," said another producer in South China. They last sold 32t of molybdenum concentrate 45%min at RMB2,800/mtu (USD18.6/lb Mo) middle last week and refused to sell at any prices below RMB2,950/mtu (USD19.6/lb Mo) one week before. Considering that they could hardly reduce their inventor pressure, they expect that the mainstream prices of Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min would drop by about RMB300/mtu (USD2/lb Mo) in the following week.
With an annual production capacity of 3,600t, the producer produced around 1,450t in 2022 and about 360t in the first quarter of this year. They expect to produce about 120t this month, almost the same as March. They have around 200t of stocks for the moment, up by about 60t MoM.
"As ferromolybdenum prices keep moving down, consumers all prefer to watch the market now. According to the feedback of our regular clients, we could only sell molybdenum concentrate 45%min at prices no more than RMB2,700/mtu (USD17.9/lb Mo) EXW D/P for the moment," said a producer in South China. They just sold about 64t of molybdenum concentrate 45%min at this price level late last week. However, they refused to sell at any prices below RMB2,900/mtu (USD19.3/lb Mo) just one week ago. Considering that the slumping ferromolybdenum 60%min prices couldn't offer any effective support now, 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 week.
With an annual production capacity of 2,400t, they produced about 1,450t in 2022 and about 250t so far this year. The producer expects to produce about 100t in April, almost the same volume as March, holding around 300t of inventories for the moment, up by about 140t MoM.
"As terminal users reduced their consumption due to the soft economic, we faced increasing inventory pressure so far this month. In order to promote sales, we could accept RMB2,680/mtu (USD17.8/lb Mo) EXW D/P now," said another producer in South China. They last sold 32t of molybdenum concentrate 45%min at RMB2,800/mtu (USD18.6/lb Mo) middle last week and refused to sell at any prices below RMB2,950/mtu (USD19.6/lb Mo) one week before. Considering that they could hardly reduce their inventor pressure, they expect that the mainstream prices of Chinese molybdenum concentrate 45%min would drop by about RMB300/mtu (USD2/lb Mo) in the following week.
With an annual production capacity of 3,600t, the producer produced around 1,450t in 2022 and about 360t in the first quarter of this year. They expect to produce about 120t this month, almost the same as March. They have around 200t of stocks for the moment, up by about 60t MoM.
