Molybdenum Prices May Double as Steel Demand Rebounds, CPM Says
2009-03-04 11:05:09.950 GMT
By Claudia Carpenter
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Molybdenum prices may double in two years as demand from steelmakers creates a supply shortfall, according to research company CPM Group.
Molybdenum, mostly used to strengthen steel, may climb to
$16 a pound ($35,274 a metric ton) next year and more than $20 a pound in 2011, Douglas Horn, an analyst at CPM in New York, told a London Metal Exchange conference today in the U.K. capital. The European Union price of molybdenum oxide was $9.15 a pound on Feb. 27, according to Metal Bulletin.
Employment of molybdenum in steel, including construction, shipbuilding and bridging uses, may jump 10 percent next year after falling about 3 percent this year, according to Horn’s presentation. Under a “base-case scenario,” global supply will fall short of demand by about 5 million pounds in 2011, compared with a 10 million-pound surplus this year, he said.
The LME gave approval last year to add molybdenum and cobalt, with the aim of starting trading in the second half of this year. The introduction may only take place early next year because of delays in developing a new clearing system, LME commercial director Liz Milan told the conference.
Molybdenum, produced alongside copper, fell more than any metal on the LME last year, Milan said. Cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries, is a byproduct from mining of nickel and copper, which already trade on the exchange.
China is the world’s largest molybdenum-producing country, accounting for 38 percent of total output in 2008, followed by the U.S. at 25 percent and Chile with 16 percent, according to CPM. Among companies, Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. is the largest producer with 16 percent of global molybdenum output, followed by state-owned Chilean mining company Codelco with 9 percent.
Stainless steel makes up 26 percent of molybdenum demand, Horn said. |
