Topical: Global demand for V to grow at an increased pace Global Demand For Vanadium Is Expected To Grow at an Increased Paced
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Apr 07, 2022, 08:30 ET
PALM BEACH, Florida, April 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2020, the vanadium market had to navigate the uncertainty that COVID-19 brought to every sector of the economy. Commenting on how prices performed during the first six months of 2021, Willis Thomas of CRU Group told the Investing News Network (INN) that prices came on quite strongly in Q2. "The pandemic recovery in the world ex-China drove new demand growth, while Chinese demand remained strong," he said. The steel sector continued to be the main driver of vanadium this year, and throughout the first half of 2021 demand from the rest of the world continued to catch up with China. Now, as 2022 kicks off, global demand for vanadium is expected to grow. He added: "There is limited demand downside, as either growth is expected to slow (steel, chemicals) or increase in pace (aerospace, batteries) as all main demand categories are poised for some growth," Thomas said. "For the aerospace/titanium segment, aircraft inventory is moving again and the supply chain is starting to pull in more vanadium," Thomas said, adding that CRU is looking for demand increases for 2022 over 2021 figures. "This sector is lagging from pandemic recovery by about one year to 18 months."....
Another segment that continues to grab attention from investors is the battery space, as vanadium is a key metal used in vanadium redox batteries. In 2022, CRU expects demand for batteries to be up significantly in China and moderately in the rest of the world. When asked about how he expects prices to perform in the new year, Thomas said low availability and threats to supply that support the price currently will be met with good demand in the first quarter of the year, a time when vanadium prices are historically elevated. He continued: "Demand will drive prices in the second half of the year," he said. "A swift battery demand increase will push prices back to where they were mid-2021 or higher — without these anticipated demand increases, prices for the highly by-product vanadium could easily fall."… but, Thomas added that a key factor investors should keep an eye out for is battery electrolyte capacity. "Significant battery-related vanadium is planned to be consumed in 2022," Thomas said. "The issue will be producing enough electrolyte to satisfy all of this demand."