Molybdenum: Trading

From producer prices to agency assessments

What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.

Molybdenum was long sold at producer prices, like nickel and aluminium (Tilton & Guzmán). Today it trades on negotiated contracts referenced to agency assessments of molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, from Argus, Fastmarkets and Platts. The LME ran a molybdenum contract for some years, but it never gained much liquidity. Large copper miners are major sellers: Codelco and Freeport were among the leading molybdenum producers in 2013 (Tilton & Guzmán). Roasters, which turn concentrate into oxide, sit at the centre of the trade.

Where it is bought (buyers)

Steel and stainless mills in China, Europe, Japan, Korea and India buy ferromolybdenum and oxide
Roasters in Chile, the Netherlands, Korea and China import concentrate (UN Comtrade 2024)
Catalyst makers buy molybdate chemicals

Where it is sold (sellers)

Chile 27.3%, Peru 22.5% and the US 18.1% of world ore and concentrate exports by value in 2024 (UN Comtrade)
Copper miners (Codelco, Freeport, Southern Copper, Antofagasta) sell concentrate or roast it
CMOC and other Chinese primary miners sell mainly in China

Exchanges and benchmarks

Venue	Contract	Notes
No liquid futures market	Physical oxide and ferromolybdenum trade bilaterally	An LME contract launched in 2010 (Radetzki and Warell); physical trade relies on price reporting agencies

Contract types

Concentrate and oxide priced at a discount or premium to the published oxide price
Monthly and quarterly ferromolybdenum contracts with steel mills
Tolling agreements with roasters

Top trading houses

Specialist minor-metals traders and producer sales arms; no dominant trading house is named in the sources used

How prices are discovered

Argus molybdic oxide price (used by USGS)
Fastmarkets oxide and ferromolybdenum assessments
Asian Metal and SMM for Chinese prices