GLOBAL VANADIUM WRAP: European Ferro-Vanadium Price Fall Slows; Chinese Market Continues to Weaken
Date: Apr 09, 2019
The earlier sharp fall in the European ferro-vanadium price slowed in the week ended Friday April 5 amid stabilizing market sentiment, while the price in China continued to decline on weak demand.
- The Chinese ferro-vanadium price continues to fall amid weak buying interest.
- The European ferro-vanadium market shows signs of stabilization; price fall slows down.
- Chinese and European V2O5 prices follow ferro-vanadium downtrend; correct lower amid lackluster spot demand.
- US ferro-vanadium price flat week on week.
The export price for ferro-vanadium in China continued to trend lower due to a lack of buying interest and weak market sentiment in the latest assessment period.
Fastmarkets assessed the export price for ferro-vanadium, min 78%, fob China, at $54-58.50 per kg on Thursday April 4, down 6.6% from $58-62.50 per kg the week before.
The price has fallen by 18.8% from early 2019 and 58.3% from an all-time high of $130-140 per kg on October 18, 2018, according to Fastmarkets’ historical data.
Many Chinese ferro-vanadium exporters continued to lower their offer prices last week following the persistent drop in the international ferro-vanadium price, but they refused to cut their prices to below $54 per kg on noticing that the domestic ferro-vanadium price was more favorable than that in the international market, Fastmarkets understands.
“We still failed to conclude any deal [for ferro-vanadium] this week despite several inquiries, even though we cut our price further. It’s really hard to reach an agreement with buyers now. They feel our offer is a bit high and we really cannot accept their bidding prices because they are too low,” a Chinese ferro-vanadium exporter said.
“Under the current situation, we would rather seek a chance to sell [ferro-vanadium] in the domestic market where the [ferro-vanadium] price is still more favorable than the equivalent international price,” the exporter added.
However, China’s domestic ferro-vanadium price has softened in the same period too. Sources cited abundant supply and suppliers’ eagerness to destock after market sentiment was dampened further when a few Chinese steel mills issued low tender prices for ferro-vanadium.
