According to the calculation to figure out volumes in pure Mo equivalent based on China's customs statistics, the export volume in the period from January to June in 2014 was 8.8909 million lbs (up by 91.7% from the year-earlier period) and the import volume was 9.8738 million lbs (up by 68.8% ditto).

Although the trade balance has continued to be in excess of exports over imports since April, the cumulative total of the import in the period from January to June is still more than that of the export.

The exports of both roasted ore (molybdenum oxide) and unroasted ore in June were down from the prior month, whereas the only import of unroasted ore increased and the import of roasted ore decreased. This is thought to be because the domestic sales volume of processed imported ore increased.

In spite of weakened demand for molybdenum concentrates and strengthened downward pressure on the price in the Chinese domestic market, the domestic mines are negative in lowering a price in terms of the cost, and some of the customers have preferred imported ores and processed ones thereof.

LME molybdenum price (cash seller and settlement) stopped to rise in early June and continued to be flat , but dropped in July and dipped below US$30,000 per ton (US$13.60 per lb). Albeit the current price is fluctuating based on US$29,000, the attention is focused on whether the price will dip below US$28,500 (US$12.93 per lb) in the future.

The import and export volumes of respective grades of molybdenum are shown in Table 1 and the monthly change in pure Mo content is shown in Table 2.

• [Editor:Mango]