As a minor metal, molybdenum is prone to rapid price fluctuations; in the past this had generated huge returns on investment. Molybdenum was one of the last metals to feel the effects of the economic downturn, but has failed to match the recovery experienced by many metals since the start of the New Year.
Molybdenum miners may dramatically slash output in an effort to coax a rebound in the price of the alloying metal, priming the industry for a rapid price ascent when stainless steel demand rebounds.
Despite the recent optimism across the metals sector, molybdenum prices are continuing on a downward trend. Last week, sluggish demand and high stockpiles caused European ferromolybdenum prices to drop below US $21 per kg. US market prices also slid.
Government spending will spark a recovery in steel demand towards the end of the year; but its mark on the molybdenum market will be limited. Demand for molybdenum in China likely will rise 6 percent in 2009, then slip to 52,800 tonnes in 2010 before growing again in 2011.
Molybdenum prices are currently hovering around the $9 per lb mark, a drastic decline from last Augusts’ high of $34. Molybdenum managed to hold its price point longer than other metals; but in the fourth quarter of 2008 the steel industry’s defeat sent molybdenum on a free fall.
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