The production of alloy steel is highly correlated with the consumption of molybdenum, which is expected to benefit from the continuous growth of the production of alloy steel
In 2018, the production of alloy steel in the national key Youte steel enterprises was 31.57 million tons, an increase of 11% over the same period last year, and the compound growth rate from 2015 to 2018 was as high as 16.5%. Alloy steel is widely used in construction engineering, machinery manufacturing, automobile, ship, nuclear industry, military weapons and equipment industries.
Molybdenum consumption is highly correlated with stainless steel production, and the global stainless steel production growth rate has accelerated in recent years, increasing demand for molybdenum. According to data released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), the annual growth rate of global stainless steel production from 2007 to 2015 is 5%, while the growth rate has accelerated in recent years, and the annual compound growth rate from 2016 to 2018 is 6.88%.
China's molybdenum consumption is also rising with the steady growth of stainless steel production. According to the data of China Iron and Steel Association, the output of stainless steel coarse steel in China in 2018 is 26.71 million tons, and the compound growth rate from 2014 to 2018 is 3.3%.
After adding molybdenum element, the corrosion resistance of stainless steel will be enhanced, and it has better pitting corrosion resistance and crevice corrosion resistance, prevent corrosion caused by salt and corrosive pollutants. Stainless steel can be divided into Cr-Mn-Ni(200 series by composition), Cr-Ni series (300 series), Cr series (400 series), heat-resistant chromium alloy steel (500 series) and precipitated hardening series (600 series).
Mo-containing stainless steel is mainly concentrated in 300 series and 400 series, and by 2018,300 series stainless steel accounts for nearly 50% of the total output of stainless steel in China. In recent years, with the upgrading of downstream demand and policy forcing ,300 series stainless steel in China has become the mainstream. According to the data published by the stainless steel branch of our special steel enterprise association, the production of chromium-nickel series (300) stainless steel has increased rapidly in recent years, from more than 10.865 million tons in 2014 to 12.8207 million tons in 2018, with an average annual growth rate of 4.22%.
