India: Ferro molybdenum prices rise to three-month high amid foreign exchange fluctuations

• Chinese prices drop amid inventory pressure
  
  
• Prices remain stable on LME, in other regions
  
  

Indian ferro molybdenum prices experienced an increase of INR 30,250/t ($348/t) w-o-w as compared to the assessment on 7 February. Prices went up significantly due to the Indian rupee's depreciation against the US dollar recently which impacted molybdenum oxide and ferro molybdenum prices.

As per BigMint's assessment on 14 February, ferro molybdenum prices in India were at INR 2,573,700/t ($29,629/t) exw. Around 30 t of spot trades were carried out last week within the price range of INR 2,500,000-2,580,000/t ($28,780-29,701/t) exw. Prices have hit a three-month high as similar levels were last seen in mid-November 2024.

Market summary

Forex effect on prices: Molybdenum oxide, a key raw material for ferro molybdenum, is entirely imported into India. Hence, the foreign exchange rates play a major role in determining the prices. Recently, the Indian rupee (INR) touched 88 against US dollar (USD) on 10 February. Sources informed that the rupee was pressured by maturity of positions in the non-deliverable forwards (NDF) segment, and equity sales by overseas investors.

This prompted sellers to raise their offers and, recently, one of them informed BigMint, "For smaller quantities, prices are in the range of INR 2,560,000-2,600,000/t ($29,471-29,931/t) exw and for bigger volumes, these ae hovering between INR 2,525,000-2,550,000/t ($29,068-29,356/t) exw."

Global market scenario: In China, ferro molybdenum (Mo:60%) prices inched down by RMB 1,000/t ($137/t) w-o-w to RMB 231,000/t ($31,688/t) exw-Inner Mongolia. Reports indicated that steel companies had sufficient inventories with them and to ease off the inventory pressure, they chose to reduce production which in turn led to decline in ferro molybdenum purchases.

In other regions, prices were largely steady. For the US (Mo:70%), prices inched up by $0.2/kb w-o-w to $51/kg and for Europe (Mo:70%), these declined marginally by $0.3/kg w-o-w to $49/kg.

Prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) platform were also stable, going down slightly by $0.20/lb w-o-w to $20.55/lb on 13 February.

Outlook

Supply-demand dynamics are expected to remain slack in the current market. Prices are also expected to move in a narrow range with slight variations in the near term.