China’s FeV prices quadruple on year amid tight supply

China’s ferrovanadium market has spent most of this year struggling with tight supply, propelling the domestic price of the ferroalloy to all-time highs and refreshing the record many times since September. The latest was on October 19 when the price for 50% grade FeV topped Yuan 500,000/tonne ($71,980/t) including 16% VAT– a dramatic rise of 339% from one year earlier – and as of November 8 has been hovering at that record-high level for several weeks, Mysteel’s database shows.

“The phenomenal jump in the FeV price is within market expectations as (China’s) imports of vanadium slag have been prohibited since the end of last year. This has caused a shortage of raw materials, including vanadium pentoxide,” a FeV trader from Southwest China’s Sichuan province said. Over this year’s first three quarters, China’s