Chinese Vanadium Nitride Prices Stay Firm

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 16 Jul 20 – Currently, mainstream prices of Chinese vanadium nitride stand at RMB166,000-169,000 (USD30.8-31.4/kg V) delivered D/A 180 days, unchanged from late last week. As prices of raw material vanadium pentoxide flake 98%min keep steady during the past two weeks, few suppliers would like to drop their quotation for vanadium nitride to promote sales. Supported by the sufficient bidding quantity of steel mills, insiders believe that mainstream prices of vanadium nitride would keep firm in the coming week.

“Our last deal was made early last week, when we sold 80t to our regular steel mill client at RMB167,000/t (USD31.0/kg V) delivered D/A 180 days. For firm bids more than 30t, we could still accept this price level now,” a producer in Northwest China said. He heard Yulin Steel bought 60t at RMB170,000/t (USD31.6/kg V) delivered D/A 180 days on 10 July. As this steel mill would delay for about three months to pay, so their bidding price keep higher than market prices and they won’t reference to this price level. As prices of raw materials vanadium pentoxide flake 98%min keep steady during the past two weeks, he believes that mainstream prices of vanadium nitride would keep firm in the coming week.

With a production capacity of 2,400tpy, they produced about 2,000t in 2019 and expect the same volume in 2020. They produced about 150t in June and expect the same volume in July, holding about 50t of regular stocks, unchanged from last month.

“We always quote RMB170,000/t delivered D/A 180 days during the past week. To be frank, we have not closed any deals above RMB167,000/t (USD31.0/kg V) so far this month,” a trader in South China noted. They sold 20t at RMB167,000/t (USD31.0/kg V) late last week. Supported by the high cost of raw material, their regular supplier refuses to drop price to promote sales, so they have to keep their bottom prices firm at RMB167,000/t (USD31.0/kg V) at the moment. Considering the demand from major steel mills keeps stable during the past months, he believes that mainstream prices of vanadium nitride would stay firm in the coming week.

With a regular trading volume of 50tpm, they sold about 500t in 2019 and about 230t so far this year. They expect to sell 40t in July, the same as June. They do back to back trading business, holding no stocks now.

www.asianmetal.com