- Weaker steel demand keeps market under pressure
- Mills trim procurement prices, slowing market activity
Mysteel Global: China’s prices of ferro molybdenum have steadily declined in he week beginning 24 Nov , with the price of 60% ferro molybdenum in Northeast China, a major production hub for the noble alloy, reaching RMB 232,000/tonne ($32,766/t) including the 13% VAT as of 27 November, falling by RMB 11,000/t ($1,554/t) week on week and marking the lowest since the third week of May, according to Mysteel’s assessment.
Domestic ferro molybdenum prices have come under pressure as speciality and stainless steel producers are trying to trim their procurement prices to reduce their production costs, Mysteel Global learned. The prices of molybdenum-containing steel products have remained generally weak.
For example, on 27 November Mysteel assessed the spot price of 316L/2B 2mm cold-rolled stainless coil in Wuxi in East China’s Jiangsu at RMB 24,200/t ($3,418/t), including the 13% VAT, sliding by RMB 500/t ($71/t) from one week before.
The wait-and-see sentiment prevailing in the market has caused transactions in the physical market to slow, as many buyers are staying on the sidelines to monitor the market changes, a source in Shanghai explained.
Market participants cite the lower bidding prices being nominated by mills to suggest that domestic ferro molybdenum prices will stay under pressure for now, though demand for the ferro alloy is expected to remain stable. After all, the steelmakers have scheduled high production of 316-grade stainless this month.
Mysteel’s other survey showed that total production of 316-grade stainless among the 43 Chinese stainless producers under its tracking may reach 96,700 tonnes in November, higher by 3.2% from October.
The poor performance of domestic ferro molybdenum prices has also weighed on prices of moly concentrate. Also on 27 November, Mysteel assessed the price of moly concentrates with 45% Mo content in Central China’s Henan province at RMB 3,615/mtu ($511/t) including the 13% VAT, lower by RMB 70/mtu ($10/t) from one week earlier.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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