Vanadium: Overview
The steel additive that also stores electricity
What this tab covers What the commodity is used for, why, in what volumes and with what alternatives, and its chain from mine or field to end user. Also the latest price moves, top recent news, three things to know, and buttons into each tab.Key uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel: rebar, beams, pipelines, car parts | 64% | about 70,000 t V a yearbasis | Very small additions of vanadium form fine carbide and nitride particles that greatly raise the strength of plain steel, so builders use less steel for the same load. Ford's 1908 Model T was marketed as a vanadium-steel car (Smil 2016). EU CRM study 2023; USGS MCS 2026; Smil (2016) | Niobium (ferroniobium) microalloying Manganese, titanium and molybdenum to some degree (USGS) Heavier sections of plain carbon steel |
| Special, tool and high-speed steels | 21% | about 23,000 t V a yearbasis | Vanadium carbides are very hard and resist wear, so tool steels, high-speed cutting steels and spring steels for axles and crankshafts carry it. Metallurgical uses take more than 90% of US vanadium (USGS). EU CRM study 2023; USGS MCS 2026 | Tungsten and molybdenum in tool steels Niobium in some microalloyed grades |
| Chemicals and catalysts (sulphuric acid, maleic anhydride), battery oxides | 5% | about 5,500 t V a yearbasis | Vanadium pentoxide is the standard catalyst for turning sulphur dioxide into sulphuric acid and is used to make maleic anhydride for plastics. USGS names these as the main non-metallurgical uses in the US. EU CRM study 2023; USGS MCS 2026 | Platinum and nickel catalysts in some processes (USGS) |
| Stainless and heat-resistant steels | 4% | about 4,400 t V a yearbasis | Small vanadium additions refine grain and add strength in martensitic stainless grades used for knives, valves and turbine parts. EU CRM study 2023 | Molybdenum and niobium additions |
| Energy storage: vanadium redox flow batteries | 3% | about 3,300 t V a yearbasis | Flow batteries store energy in vanadium electrolyte tanks. USGS cites their operational safety, long cycle life and suitability for medium- to long-duration storage. High capital cost and limited high-purity vanadium supply are the main barriers (USGS 2026). EU CRM study 2023; USGS MCS 2026 | Lithium iron phosphate batteries Iron-air and zinc flow batteries Pumped hydro |
| Titanium and nickel superalloys for aerospace | 3% | about 3,300 t V a yearbasis | Ti-6Al-4V, the workhorse aerospace titanium alloy, contains 4% vanadium added as aluminium-vanadium master alloy. USGS says no acceptable substitute exists for vanadium in aerospace titanium alloys. EU CRM study 2023; USGS MCS 2026 | None acceptable in aerospace titanium alloys (USGS) |
From mine to user
- 1. Mining vanadiferous titanomagnetite Most vanadium sits at under 2% in titaniferous magnetite (USGS). Largo's Brazilian ore averaged 0.50% effective grade in 2025.
- 2. Ironmaking (co-product route) In China and Russia the magnetite goes to blast furnaces; vanadium follows the iron and is blown into a vanadium-rich converter slag.
- 3. Salt roasting and leaching (primary route) Concentrate or slag is roasted with sodium salts, leached in water and precipitated. Largo recovered 80.1% globally in 2025.
- 4. Vanadium pentoxide and ferrovanadium Product is V2O5 flake or powder (98% V2O5, priced about $5/lb in China in 2025) or ferrovanadium (78-82% V, $14.14/lb in the US) (USGS).
- 5. Trade China, South Africa, Korea and Canada led ferrovanadium exports in 2023; the US, Germany and Japan led imports in 2024 (UN Comtrade).
- 6. Steel, chemicals, alloys, batteries Steel mills add ferrovanadium or nitrided vanadium; electrolyte makers dissolve high-purity V2O5 for flow batteries.
- 7. Recycling Spent catalysts, petroleum residues and fly ash yielded about 7,500 t V in the US in 2025 (USGS).
Price movement snapshot 2026-10-25
No public daily or monthly benchmark price for this commodity in the datasets used.
World production 113k tonnes, 2024 Largest producer China 68.53% of world Reserve life 191 yrs reserves ÷ 2025 outputThree things to know
- Ford built the Model T with vanadium steel and advertised it heavily as the finest automobile steel available (Smil; Conway).
- US auto-industry steel use grew from a few thousand tonnes in 1900 to over 70,000 tonnes in 1910 (Smil).
- US vanadium output, all from ash, residues and spent catalysts, rose from 3,200 tonnes in 2021 to an estimated 7,500 in 2025 (USGS).
Top recent news snapshot 2026-10-25, last 30 days
- India: Ferro vanadium prices rise despite weaker Chinese market and cautious buyingBigMint · 2026-10-14
- Largo receives environmental permit for second vanadium mineInvesting.com · 2026-10-08
- Vanadium Resources confirm co-production viability of iron, vanadium at South African projectMining Weekly · 2026-10-05
- V-Iron Plant study greenlights DFS, Vanadium Resources saysMining.com.au · 2026-10-05
- Australian Vanadium and Tyfast evaluate vanadium for heavy-duty batteriesMining.com.au · 2026-10-09