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Ferro-molybdenum prices dropped dramatically in Europe on Wednesday September 17 on a wave of poor sentiment, market participants told Metal Bulletin.
Metal Bulletin’s quotation plummeted to $29.50-29.80, down $1 on the bottom end, and $1.20 on the top end.
“Prices have really fallen like a rock now. It’s been very quick and a little bit unexpected […] if we speak to central Europe, there are still some enquiries, but all the tenders go at lower numbers,” a trader said.
“People are trying to target $30, but I don’t think that’s possible to achieve…I guess I would be worse off if I were a stockholder,” the trader added.
Molybdic oxide prices also fell today, to $11.70-11.90 per lb, breaking through the expected resistance level of $12, down from $12.40-12.70 previously.
“The market is crazy […] the price is going down very fast. I think people are now very concerned about what’s going to happen with [additional supply],” a producer said.
“It’s all probably triggered by uncertainty over whether there’s more material in the market or not […] probably $11.50 or even $11 will be the next resistance level.”
A second trader added that there appears to be some panic in the ferro-molybdenum market, and some sellers may be trying to get rid of material to avoid making larger losses later.
“There’s too much material in the market. I was talking to one trader who was on holiday last week […] and I think he rather expected to see some more enquiries [from buyers], but he was disappointed,” he said.
“He tried to get rid of some material around $30, but I’ve seen the prices from [major steel mills] and they’re all below $30, so there’s no interest.”
It appears the expected collapse in prices, predicted following their stratospheric ascent earlier in the year, may finally have arrived, although it is not clear whether this will continue into the year-end.
Claire Hack chack@metalbulletin.com Twitter: @clairehack_mb