Molybdenum: Characteristics
How a few per cent transforms steel
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 260,000 t Mo mine output (2025e), up 2% from 256,000 t | China mined 97,000 t, Chile 42,000 t, the US 40,000 t, Peru 39,000 t and Mexico 17,000 t; these five made 90% of world output. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Inventory and stock levels | US consumer stocks about 2,040 t (2025e); no active exchange stocks | That is about 4 weeks of US consumption at most (indicative). An LME contract launched in 2010 never built liquidity, so stocks sit with roasters, traders and steel mills and are not reported. | USGS MCS 2026; Radetzki and Warell |
| Capacity utilisation | not published | No global figure in the sources used. Primary mines (China, US) flex output with price, and a Canadian company plans to restart an idled Idaho mine in the second half of 2027. By-product supply follows copper mine output, not molybdenum demand. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | China 41.5%, top-3 70.2% (China, Peru, Chile), HHI 2,355 (2024) | CMOC (13,906 t, 2025), Codelco, Freeport-McMoRan and Grupo Mexico (Southern Copper) are the largest producers. China and the US are the only countries with both primary and by-product mines. | World Mining Data 2026; USGS MCS 2026; CMOC via content_v2 |
| Supply elasticity | low to medium: about 55% of supply is a copper by-product, so it tracks copper; primary mines restart in 1-3 years | Copper miners add molybdenite circuits to existing plants when prices are high, which USGS says is offsetting ageing mines and falling grades. New primary mines take many years. | USGS MCS 2026; companionality from Nassar et al. via briefs (55%) |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | Idaho primary mine restart (2H 2027); by-product circuits at copper mines | The same company is ramping up a molybdenum processing plant in Pennsylvania. China imposed export controls on molybdenum powders in February 2025, pushing buyers to other sources. CapEx figures were not found. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | ore and concentrate exports $7.0 billion (2024); Chile 27.3%, Peru 22.5%, US 18.1% of value | Concentrate moves from Andean copper mines to roasters in Chile, the Netherlands, Belgium and China. China (15.5%), Korea (13.3%) and Japan (10.2%) lead imports. Ferromolybdenum to the US comes mainly from Chile (74%) and Korea (21%). | UN Comtrade 2024 (HS 2613); USGS MCS 2026 |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Molybdenum adds strength at high temperature, hardenability and resistance to pitting corrosion in steel, often at only 0.2-3%. It is traded as molybdenite concentrate, roasted technical oxide and ferromolybdenum, priced per pound of contained Mo. Its very high melting point and stiffness also suit furnace parts, glass-melting electrodes and catalysts.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concentrate and oxide grade | molybdenite concentrate typically 85-90% MoS2 (about 50-57% Mo); technical molybdic oxide about 57% Mo | Prices are quoted per pound of Mo in oxide; copper and lead impurities are penalised by roasters | USGS MCS 2026; content_v2 chain; concentrate range indicative |
| Ferromolybdenum | about 60-70% Mo (ASTM A132) | The standard form added to steel melts; low copper, phosphorus and sulphur are required | ASTM A132; content_v2 chain |
| Melting point | 2,623 C | Among the highest of metals, so Mo is used for furnace heating elements, glass electrodes and high-temperature alloys | CRC Handbook (standard value) |
| Stiffness and strength | elastic modulus about 329 GPa; Mo-alloyed steels such as 4140 (0.15-0.25% Mo) reach tensile strengths of about 650-1,000 MPa (indicative) | Lets engineering steels for gears, shafts, pipelines and pressure vessels keep strength after heat treatment and at temperature | CRC Handbook; AISI 4140 (indicative) |
| Pitting corrosion resistance | 316 stainless has 2-3% Mo; PREN =%Cr + 3.3 x%Mo + 16 x%N | Each 1% Mo counts 3.3 times as much as chromium against chloride pitting, which is why seawater, chemical and desalination plants use Mo grades | ASTM A240; PREN formula (standard) |
| Thermal conductivity | about 138 W/m K | Good heat conduction plus low thermal expansion suits heat sinks and semiconductor substrates | CRC Handbook (standard value) |