Molybdenum oxide prices continued to drift Thursday as buying interest remained slow.
"It's probably the quietest January I can remember on the spot market," one producer source said, adding, "We have had some activity with our contract customers -- a couple have been busier than they were at the end of last year."
Inter-trade oxide powder business was reported booked at $5.15/lb in-warehouse Rotterdam for February release, with unconfirmed reports of a deal concluded at a similar price in Busan and talk that material may be available as low as $5.10/lb.
Business in Asia was generally very quiet with the Lunar New Year holiday approaching.
The Platts daily dealer oxide assessment fell to $5.15-$5.25/lb Thursday from $5.25-$5.35/lb on Wednesday.
The daily European ferromolybdenum assessment was unchanged at $13.60-$13.80/kg, with 20 mt lots reported booked in the middle of the range at $13.70/kg.
Even with oxide prices softening, the January Platts mean average to date of around $5.36/lb equates to a ferromolybdenum cost price of at least $14/kg "with no financing, no transport, no nothing," one supplier said.
At current prices, "if you factor in another 20 cents for financing, transport etc. you're looking at a loss of 50 cents/kg," he said.
