Speculative trading banned, three major steel companies suspend molybdenum iron purchases.

According to the Securities Times, on July 30th, three major domestic steel companies have launched an "anti-speculation" action - Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group, Zhongxin Taifu Special Steel, and Qingtuo Group have issued a joint statement on "Maintaining the Healthy Development of the Molybdenum Industry Chain," announcing a temporary suspension of molybdenum iron purchases, aiming at the recent irrational rise in the molybdenum iron market. The three major steel companies expressed in the joint statement: "Strongly condemn the irrational speculation in the market." The statement mentioned that the sharp rise in molybdenum iron prices has caused a serious inverted cost of high-end molybdenum-containing stainless steel and special steel raw materials, threatening the security of the country's high-end manufacturing equipment supply chain. Data shows that on July 30, the price of 60% molybdenum iron has soared to 273,000-280,000 yuan/ton, with a 35% increase in the past four months. "The joint resistance of the three major steel companies is really rare in the industry," said a special steel industry insider who preferred not to be named. The main application area of molybdenum downstream is the steel industry, with the addition of molybdenum iron in stainless steel typically ranging from 2% to 5%. "Generally speaking, because the amount added is small, the impact of the small metal price increase on the overall cost is controllable, but this wave of molybdenum iron price increase is not rational, more due to traders hoarding and stalling, causing prices to rise rapidly, and downstream cost pressures to rise."