What Drove the Surge in Molybdenum Concentrate Prices?

SHANGHAI, Dec 2 (SMM) – According to SMM statistics, the domestic molybdenum market has picked up with molybdenum concentrate prices leading the price gains. The daily price gains expanded from 10 yuan/mt to 40 yuan/mt today. The supply shortage of domestic molybdenum concentrate has driven the surge in prices.

SMM believes that the main reasons for the shortage of domestic molybdenum concentrates are as follows:

1. Affected by the pandemic in Manzhouli of Inner Mongolia, the surrounding mines’ external transportation roads were blocked. According to SMM, the supply of molybdenum concentrates of China Gold Group was severely affected. The delivery of some long-term orders of molybdenum concentrates was delayed, and this forced downstream companies to look for other molybdenum concentrates.

2. According to SMM, some areas of north-east China and Inner Mongolia encountered low temperatures and snowfall, which blocked the external transportation of some mines. At the same time, the mines in some areas of Heilongjiang Province were unable to carry out the beneficiation work normally due to the low temperature weather, and the operating rate was reduced.

3. The review of mining licenses for the mines in Hebei has been suspended. Some mines shared with SMM that all mining licenses in Hebei Province have recently encountered resistance in their review and issuance. Hebei Province has temporarily suspended the renewal and issuance of mining licenses for all molybdenum mines. As a result, some molybdenum mines have ceased production.

4. Many large-scale molybdenum mines have stocked out. Large-scale molybdenum mines such as Longyu and Luming have shipped cargoes in large volumes previously. According to incomplete statistics, the volume of inventory declines in November reached 8,000 mt. Meanwhile, the market demand for ferromolybdenum recovered significantly in November. Molybdenum concentrate is fully consumed by the market, and molybdenum mines have maintained a low operating rate due to the previous price declines, resulting in the current insufficient inventory.

SMM believes that there is indeed a large gap in the supply of molybdenum concentrates in the market, and the market is keen to restock. The prices will rise in the short term but will stabilise in the long term due to limited recovery in the demand from steel mills and the weakening market in the off-season.