[Ferro-Alloys.com]1. China

Mine production: 42,000 MT

 

China was the world’s top producer of vanadium in 2015, putting out 42,000 MT of the metal. That’s slightly off from the 45,000 MT it produced in 2014, but still ahead of the rest of the world by a large margin.

 

While Chinese demand for steel isn’t as high as many would like it to be, the country still uses a lot of the material, and thus also consumes a lot of vanadium. Indeed, much of the vanadium that China produces is used within the country. As mentioned, it’s uncertain when Chinese demand for steel (and thus for vanadium) will pick up — expert opinions vary widely.

 

2. South Africa

Mine production: 19,000 MT

 

South Africa produced 19,000 MT of vanadium in 2015, down 2,000 MT from the amount it put out the previous year. Because China retains much of the vanadium it produces, many countries that need vanadium import it from South Africa. In fact, South Africa’s Bushveld Complex is responsible for more than 20 percent of global vanadium supply.

 

3. Russia

Mine production: 15,000 MT

 

Slightly behind South Africa, Russia produced 15,000 MT of vanadium in 2015, slightly off from the 15,100 MT it put out in 2014. There’s often little information available on Russian metals production, and for vanadium it’s no different; however, it’s worth noting that EVRAZ (LSE:EVR), a vertically integrated steel, mining and vanadium business, is a key vanadium producer in Russia, as well as worldwide.

 

4. Brazil

Mine production: 2,800 MT

 

Finally, Brazil produced 2,800 MT of vanadium in 2015, up from 1,030 MT in 2014. While that’s far below the output from China, South Africa and Russia, Brazil’s lower output is understandable — that’s because its main vanadium producer only just got up and running.

 

That company is Largo Resources (TSXV:LGO), which bills itself as the only pure-play vanadium producer in the world (other companies produce vanadium as a by-product of other metals, meaning that they produce it as a secondary product when they mine other metals). It achieved first production at its Maracas Menchen mine in Brazil midway through 2014.

 

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