| News & Trends | ||
| Molybdenum prices to rise on market uncertainty - 11 Mar, 2010 | ||
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Record nickel prices are one of the key drivers. Scarce inventory has forced ThyssenKrupp AG, the world's largest stainless steel manufacturer, to start reducing the company's use of nickel. Further cuts are being contemplated. Finnish austenitic provider Outokumpu plans to increase production of ferritic stainless steels. Ferritic steels continue to use molybdenum, but are nickel free. Outokumpu recently released a low-alloyed duplex stainless steel, trademarked LDX2101, with low nickel content, but balanced with manganese, nitrogen and molybdenum. Allegheny Ludlum began campaigning for greater manganese use earlier this year in stainless steel products. According to the International Stainless Steel Forum, the fastest growing type of stainless are those grades absent the nickel content, or with lesser nickel in the composition. Mr Dan Janikowski GM of Plymouth Tube said that "This year, at the pace we are going, we will sell more of this tubing than we've ever sold before. We are working at a record pace." According to Janikowski and Edward Blessman, technical director of Trent Tube, the major business with respect to the North American power plant market comes from re tubing worn out or eroded copper nickel tubes in the plant's steam condensers. These come in the form of life extensions for both nuclear and fossil fuel plants. In the May 2007 Monthly Stainless Steel Report prepared by Damstahl®, the company forecast that molybdenum ore supply is expected to increase by only 12% to 460 million pounds by 2009. (Sourced from Metals Place) | ||
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