International Molybdenum Association (IMOA) shows that the global production of molybdenum rose by 3% to 148.2mlbs when compared to the previous quarter of 2020 and the same quarter of 2019.
Global use of molybdenum also rose by 3% to 126.9mlbs when compared to the previous quarter, but fell by 14% when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
South America became the largest producer of molybdenum at 49.4mlbs surpassing China which became the second largest producer at 47.2mlbs. Production in North America saw the largest percentage fall, 7%, to 36.8mlbs. Other regions saw a significant percentage rise in production to 14.8mlbs, a 26% increase when compared to the previous quarter.
China remained the largest user of molybdenum at 58.9mlbs, a 46% rise when compared to the previous quarter, a 7% rise when compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Europe remained the second largest user at 26.4mlbs. Japan continued to be a bigger user of molybdenum than the USA at 10.2mlbs. The USA used 9.5mlbs which represented a fall of 25% when compared to the previous quarter. Other countries used 18.6mlbs, a 17% drop in comparison to the previous quarter.
