Vanadium market

Vanadium and primary uses

Vanadium is a chemical element with symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery grey, ductile and malleable transition metal. The element is found only in chemically combined form in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the free metal somewhat against further oxidation. It is currently used mainly as an additive to steel to give greater tensile strength and corrosion resistance. Two pounds of vanadium added to a tonne of steel almost doubles its strength. It is notable for occurring in four different oxidation states which give rise to its use as a catalyst in making sulfuric acid and a major future use in vanadium redox batteries for large-scale energy storage, particularly in conjunction with solar and wind energy sources. It is increasingly used in high specification metals for aerospace and transport applications. There are many other minor applications.

Vanadium pentoxide (flake) Ammonium metavanadate (powder) Ferrovanadium 

 

Market analysis by TTP Squared, Inc

TTP Squared Market Summary 30 July 2020

Pricing

Confusingly, the price of vanadium pentoxide (“pentoxide”) is usually quoted in US$/lb of pentoxide whilst the price of ferro-vanadium (accounting for the majority of vanadium production) is quoted in $/kg of contained vanadium metal (the iron content is ignored). Although there are short term variations, the prices of the two are usually in lock-step, reflecting the costs of conversion from vanadium pentoxide to ferro-vanadium.