British Columbia

MOLYBDENUM – Sojitz Corp., Japan’s largest molybdenum trader and 25 percent owner of Thompson Creek Metals Co.’s Endako molybdenum mine in British Columbia , expects to double its sales in the next three years on increased demand from steelmakers, according to a Feb. 8 report by Bloomberg. Sojitz plans to increase annual sales to 20 million pounds by 2013 from its current 10 million to 11 million pounds, according to Kazuyoshi Shioda, general manager of the ferroalloys department. Molybdenum is used to strengthen steel in oil and gas pipelines and in oil drills. Crude steel output in Japan may exceed 100 million metric tons in the year to March 31, 2011, Japan Iron and Steel Federation Chairman Shoji Muneoka said Jan. 27, an increase of more than 3 percent from predictions for the current year. China’s production, the world’s biggest, climbed 14 percent to a record 568 million tons in 2009 as the government’s stimulus spending boosted demand from builders and carmakers. “Until some new mine projects start production in 2012 and 2013, the market will see a supply shortage amid increasing steel output,” Shioda said. “To achieve the sales target, we are considering some investment in new mining projects in North America and Australia,” he told Bloomberg. Japan plans to revise legislation to help local companies acquire mining rights overseas and secure raw materials amid competition from neighboring China and South Korea. The price for molybdenum trioxide has recovered to around $10 a pound after dipping to $7 in late 2008, Shioda said. The price may increase to $20 on tight supplies, he said, without providing a timeframe. Sojitz trades nickel and rare metals. General Moly Inc. said in August 2008 it signed an off- take agreement with Sojitz. Under the accord, General Moly will supply 5 million pounds a year of molybdenum over five years, beginning once its mine at Mt. Hope reaches commercial production levels. Molybdenum demand may outpace supply by 2014, Roskill Information Services Ltd. said on Jan. 27. Molybdenum is consumed mainly as oxide or ferromolybdenum in stainless and alloy steels, it said.