Vanadium Market Update (May 17, 2012)

Chinese vanadium pentoxide (V2O5 )98 percent prices were between 71,000 and 73,000 yuan a metric ton on May 15, according to data from Metal-Pages. Prices have been in that range for all of May, and are down from the 82,000 yuan a ton level seen in October 2011.

Vanadium pentoxide fused flake 98 percent minimum prices in Europe were up nearly 6.7 percent on May 15 and were between $5.75 and $6.25 a pound, way below their price of $6.40 a pound in October of 2011.

Industry sources told Metal-Pages that trade on the Chinese market for vanadium pentoxide flake, the main raw material for vanadium alloys, has been thin in the past week as alloy producers’ sales started to slow down. They said market participants expect prices for pentoxide flake to drop if sales from consumers continue to be gloomy.

A source at a Hubei-based producer told Metal-Pages his company is offering 73,000 yuan a ton for vanadium pentoxide flake. “We are considering stopping production if prices continue to decrease,” the source said.

A producer of downstream pentoxide products in Zhejiang province told Metal-Pages: “We are not planning to purchase vanadium pentoxide flake as the market is vulnerable for the time being and prices are likely to slip slightly in the near term.”