[SMM Analysis] Terminal demand exceeds expectations and the molybdenum market is off to a good start

SHANGHAI, Feb 27 (SMM) -

In the first week after CNY holiday, driven by the dual factors of steel mills entering the market ahead of schedule and large-scale molybdenum mines releasing molybdenum raw materials, the molybdenum market fulfilled expectations and saw a slight price increase.

6. Raw materials

On February 19, the bidding results of Henan Molybdenum Mine's molybdenum concentrate were announced (base price 3,270 yuan/ton): the transaction price of 47% and above molybdenum concentrate was 3,310-3,355 yuan/ton, and the transaction volume was 810 tons.

On February 21, Jilin Molybdenum Mine priced and sold 50-55% molybdenum concentrate at 3,370 yuan/ton (cash) .

On February 22, Hunan Molybdenum Mine issued a tender to sell 100 tons of 45-50% molybdenum concentrate, and the winning bid price was 3,388 yuan/ton (cash) .

After this round of large-scale molybdenum mines released molybdenum raw materials, most of the follow-up shipments were trade holders, mainly because they were worried that this round of rising prices would be short-lived and lead to price inversion and inventory backlog, so shipments reduced inventory pressure; on the other hand, molybdenum mining companies , due to limited inventory pressure and huge profit margins, the shipment volume of this round of price increases is small, and they choose to continue to wait for the shipment prices of other large molybdenum mines next week.

Ferromolybdenum

This week, large steel mills in the south took the lead in purchasing ferromolybdenum in large quantities, conducting a total of 4 rounds of purchases. Without counting long-term orders and the fourth round of purchases, the steel volume was close to 3,000 tons, which made other steel mills They also ignited their enthusiasm for procurement, followed by a ferromolybdenum tender. It is reported that the bidding price of ferromolybdenum purchased by large steel mills in the south is stable at 218,000 yuan/ton, and the bidding prices of other steel mills are mostly in the range of 219,000-221,000 yuan/ton. According to statistics, as of February, the bidding volume of ferromolybdenum has exceeded 8,000 tons , and demand has performed well.

Calculated based on the cash price of raw materials for ferromolybdenum plants: there is a small profit margin at the beginning of the week, and a slight inversion begins to occur from mid-week to the weekend.

According to SMM, the operating rate of downstream steel mills was relatively stable during the Chinese New Year, and there was no widespread maintenance and production reduction. Secondly, large steel mills in the south had considerable order volume from February to March, and delivery dates were concentrated in March, so March There are expectations for production increases in March, which will provide strong support to existing molybdenum prices.