molybdenum

U.S. molybdenum prices have firmed further as supplies from China continue to dwindle, market sources said. Free-market ferromolybdenum prices have nudged up to between $27 and $28 a pound from $26.75 to $27.75 previously, while molybdic oxide has increased to between $25.25 and $26 a pound from $24 to $25.50. Supply is falling short of demand, and that divide is expected to widen once the Chinese government imposes quotas on molybdenum exports sometime this year. It has already imposed a 15-percent export tax on unwrought molybdenum, molybdenum powder and scrap effective Jan. 1 (AMM, Dec. 28), and also plans to license exports of the metal. The export licenses, if used to enforce quotas, are likely to prevent smaller molybdenum producers from exporting, a trader said. With less Chinese material flowing into the U.S. market, molybdenum prices could remain in their current range for much of the year, said trade sources, who previously had predicted that molybdic oxide would be selling at around $20 a pound before year-end.