Competitive StrengthTrends and Prospects
V205
Vanadium pentoxide, or V205, is a strengthening additive used in the production of steel alloys and is usually extracted from vanadium slag recovered during steel production. The biggest source of vanadium comes from vanadium-bearing iron ores. Currently, China has one of the world's largest deposits of vanadium-bearing iron ores which can be found abundantly in the ore belt region of Chengde in Heibei and the Panzhihua in Sichuan, the latter is where our sister company, China Vanadium Titano-Magnetite Mining Company Ltd's (CVT) ore mines are.
China's usage of vanadium in steel making is still significantly lower than that of those in developed countries. In recent years, a shift to the production of steels with higher strength has further increased the growth in vanadium consumption. The PRC State Council has recently announced that the usage of HRC ribbed bars with tensile strength of 400Pa and above will increase, which in turn is expected to drive the demand for vanadium.
FeV80
This high-quality product is the universal strengthener and hardener for high-strength steels, tool steels, and other ferrous-based products.
The main usage of FeV80 is to make alloy steel and is widely used in construction, automotive and aerospace industries.
HRC
Demand for high-grade HRC products used in automobiles and home appliances continue to grow in support of China's industrialisation. The PRC government's stimulus package of about RMB 4 trillion to boost domestic demand and growth and the reconstruction efforts following the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008 will require substantial amounts of steel products.
The government has also announced plans to build oil and gas pipelines in the next 12 years to meet domestic energy demands. Such plans are likely to boost the demand for HRC products which are widely used in the oil and gas industry.