Vanadium is an indispensable and important material for the development of modern industry, modern national defense and modern science and technology. Currently, vanadium is mainly used in the production of alloy steels and chemical catalysts, and its applications in other fields are also expanding and have good prospects for development.
Vanadium is predominantly present in magnetite, phosphate rock, uraniferous sandstone and siltstone deposits, and a large amount of vanadium is present in bauxite and carbonaceous materials ( such as petroleum, coal, oil shale and tar sands) ) . 98% of the world's vanadium resources come from vanadium-titanium magnetite. The reserves of vanadium-titanium magnetite are very large, mainly concentrated in a few countries and regions, such as Russia, China, and South Africa. In addition, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Finland, the United States, Canada and other countries also have a small amount of vanadium-titanium magnetite. Except for vanadium-titanium magnetite, other vanadium-bearing resources are mainly phosphate rock, uranium-containing sandstone and siltstone ore, and the total amount of these deposits exceeds 60 million tons respectively. In addition, bauxite, carbonaceous crude oil, coal, oil shale, and tar sands all contain small amounts of vanadium.
The world’s vanadium reserves are about 159.8 million tons. Among them, South Africa accounted for 46%, the Commonwealth of Independent States accounted for 23.6%, the United States accounted for 13.1%, China accounted for 11.6%, and the sum of other countries was less than 6%. Since vanadium is often recovered as a by-product or symbiotic product, the currently publicly announced vanadium reserves in the world do not fully reflect actual resource conditions. However, under the current technological conditions, only a few countries in the world that can recover vanadium from magnetite resources are only Russia, South Africa and China. These countries are the main source of global vanadium supply.
China's vanadium resources are extremely rich and it is a global reserve of vanadium resources. More than 10 provinces and cities in the country (region) has vanadium minerals, but mainly concentrated in Panzhihua, Sichuan and Hebei Chengde area, especially the very rich resources of vanadium Panzhihua area, it has proven reserves of vanadium-titanium magnetite nearly 10 billion t The reserve of vanadium pentoxide is 15.78 million tons, accounting for 55% of the national reserves and 11% of the world's reserves. In addition, in Chengde, Hebei, high-grade vanadium-titanium magnetite ( iron content greater than 30%, V2O5 content greater than 0.7% ) has proven reserves of 260 million tons, of which reserves of 220 million tons; low iron grade vanadium-titanium magnetite ( Iron content is greater than 10%, V2O5 content is greater than 0.13% . The reserves that have been identified and examined in detail are 2.96 billion tons, accounting for approximately 40% of the total reserves in the country. In recent years, with the development and utilization of low-grade vanadium-titanium magnetite outside of a large number of geological reserves, the amount of vanadium resources that can be recycled and utilized has gradually increased.
Around 90% of the world's vanadium is used for the production of alloy steel. The annual demand is about 130,000 t V2O5 . At present, the domestic and international production capacity has exceeded the demand. In 2006, China produced 35,700 tons of vanadium pentoxide, consumed 23,700 tons, exported 17,000 tons and imported 0.5 million tons.
The application prospects of vanadium in China are relatively good. According to calculations, if the domestic production of new III-grade steel containing vanadium reaches 8 million tons, 15,000 tons of V2O5 will be needed; if the production of new III-grade steel containing vanadium reaches 13 million tons, 25,000 tons will be needed. V2O5 . In this way, even if exports are not included, domestic vanadium consumption will also increase substantially. According to the analysis and forecast, the domestic demand for vanadium pentoxide in 2010 was 41,000 tons. Among them, the demand for ferro-vanadium and vanadium nitride in the iron and steel industry is 39,000 t V2O5 , and that for the chemical and other industries is 0.3 million t V2O5 .
In addition, the extraction of vanadium from hot metal is restricted by the scale of iron and steel production. As a result, vanadium production cannot fully adapt to changes in the market; while the production costs of vanadium from other sources are higher than those of hot metal extraction. Against this background, it is normal for China's iron and steel industry companies to have their vanadium production capacity appropriately greater than market demand.
China is the world's major exporter of vanadium products. In 2006, it exported 10,430 tons of vanadium pentoxide, with an export value of 165.74 million U.S. dollars; exported 259 tons of vanadium products with an export value of 7.16 million U.S. dollars; vanadium content was more than 75%; vanadium and iron exports were 3,288 tons, and the export value was 89.58 million U.S. dollars; general ferro-vanadium export volume was 1,407 tons. 25,880,000 US dollars. The combined export value of vanadium products was 288 million U.S. dollars and the export of vanadium products was equivalent to 17,000 t of V2O5 . In the same year, China imported 7.86 million U.S. dollars worth of vanadium products. Vanadium is an export product that China has resource advantages.
Through the price trend of vanadium pentoxide in the international market for the past 10 years, it can be seen that the price of vanadium pentoxide in Europe remained at around 2 U.S. dollars per pound between 1999 and 2003, and the price of ferro-vanadium was at around 8 U.S. dollars per kilogram of vanadium; In 2004, prices of vanadium pentoxide and ferrovanadium started to rise, and prices soared in 2005. Among them, the price of vanadium in the European market reached a record high of 123 to 128 US dollars/kg of vanadium in mid-April 2005. In late April, the price of vanadium pentoxide also reached 25.5 to 27 US$ per pound. However, since the beginning of May, international vanadium prices have begun to slowly adjust back, and this trend has continued to this day.