Domestic prices for vanadium products in China in mid-August were showing little change since mid- to late-July this year, with alloy suppliers struggling to hold prices firm amid comparatively stable prices for vanadium pentoxide (V2O5).
Steel mills were postponing their purchases of vanadium alloys because of narrow profit margins resulting from high production costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 19.
The transaction price for vanadium nitrogen, for example, was around 167,500 yuan ($24,215) per tonne this week, compared with 168,000 yuan per tonne in late July, with the price paid on acceptance and including value-added tax (VAT), according to market sources.
Previously, some market participants expected to see vanadium alloy prices go higher, with mills gradually returning to the market for stockpiling from late July, while some others expressed concerns over possible downswing risks, with a large volume of overseas-origin cargoes acting as a headwind to the domestic market.
Fastmarkets has summarized several factors that have jointly contributed to the comparative stability of the vanadium market in China since late July.
Mills' cautious buying hinders prices rise
Many domestic steel mills...