Prices of 99.95%-grade molybdenum, also known as chemical pure moly, have maintained year-ago levels while more commonly traded 57%-grade moly oxide prices hover at multi-year lows, market sources said Tuesday.
One Japanese consumer said he had closed a long term contract with one chemical moly producer in the range of $8-$10/lb plus processing fee of $0.3-0.5/lb, effective October 2015.
The consumer declined to give the monthly volume or the length of the contract.
Industry sources said term contracts are typically for one year.
Another Japanese market source said spot deals were done for small lots, possibly below 20 mt, and prices were around $10/lb or Yen 2,500-3,000/kg.
Meanwhile, spot moly oxide was assessed by Platts at $4.50-$4.58/lb Monday, unchanged from the previous day but down from $6.20-$6.30/lb at the end of the second quarter and $13.20-$13.40/lb at the end of Q2 last year.
Chemical grade moly prices are holding at year-ago levels as there are just three companies worldwide producing regular monthly output, sources said.
