Technical Molybdenum Oxide (TMO) & Ferromolybdenum (FeMo 60–75% Mo)

Roasted molybdenum concentrate at 57% Mo min and ferromolybdenum at 60–75% Mo, the molybdenum additions for carbon, alloy, stainless and tool steels

Molybdenum goes into steel in two forms, and both are sold on the molybdenum they contain. Technical molybdenum oxide (TMO) is roasted molybdenite concentrate: multiple-hearth roasters at 500–650 °C burn the sulphur out of MoS₂ and leave an oxide that IMOA, the International Molybdenum Association, puts at 56–58% Mo with copper at 0.5% maximum and sulphur under 0.1%, and that IMOA calls the principal product for adding molybdenum to carbon and stainless steels. It trades to a published reference: the Platts Molybdenum Oxide Daily Dealer assessment covers drummed oxide at 57% Mo minimum with copper at 0.5% and lead at 0.05% maximum, in US dollars per pound of contained Mo, and the MMTA norm for roasted molybdenum concentrates adds phosphorus at 0.05% and sulphur and carbon at 0.10%, as a 0–4 mm sandy powder or pillow-shaped briquettes. Ferromolybdenum (FeMo) is the next step for 30–40% of the oxide: it is mixed with iron oxide and reduced by aluminium in a thermite reaction into an ingot of several hundred kilograms, carrying 60–75% Mo with the balance essentially iron. The MMTA norms for FeMo 60 and FeMo 65 cap silicon at 1.50%, copper at 0.5%, sulphur and carbon at 0.1% and phosphorus at 0.05%, in 5/10–50 mm lumps, and Fastmarkets assesses ferro-molybdenum on a 65–70% Mo basis in-warehouse Rotterdam, in US dollars per kilogram of Mo. On the trade, UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2613.10, roasted molybdenum concentrates, total USD 3.69 billion: Chile USD 1.46 billion (40%), shipped to Japan, Brazil, India, Korea and the Netherlands; the USA USD 722 million; the Netherlands USD 698 million, three-quarters of it to Sweden, Italy, Finland, Austria and Belgium; and China USD 370 million, mainly to Korea and Thailand. Under HS 7202.70, ferro-molybdenum, they total USD 2.84 billion: Korea USD 698 million (25%), Belgium USD 366 million, the UK USD 363 million, Chile USD 280 million, two-thirds of it to the USA, China USD 243 million, almost all to Indonesia, and the Netherlands USD 242 million.

The buyer is a steel mill, foundry or alloy maker buying units of molybdenum for its melt. IMOA describes the split: oxide for carbon and stainless steels; FeMo in any melting or refining unit, often as a ladle addition for accurate final adjustment, and for high-strength low-alloy steels with no more than about 0.2% Mo, where all the molybdenum goes in as FeMo; FeMo also serves alloy, tool and high-speed steels and cast iron. In 2024 import declarations, Japan, Korea, India, the UK, Brazil and the Netherlands led for roasted concentrate, and Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Indonesia, the USA and China for ferromolybdenum. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers TMO and FeMo from converter and trader allocations in Chile, the Netherlands, the USA, Belgium, Korea and Mexico, and from China only with the exporter's MOFCOM export licence, against SGS, Alfred H Knight or Bureau Veritas weighing, sampling and analysis of Mo, Cu, Pb, P, S and C, plus Si and size distribution for FeMo, with assays exchanged and an umpire laboratory named in the contract. IMOA publishes a weighing and sampling procedure for technical grade oxide, and its assaying procedures for oxide and for ferromolybdenum were both updated in 2026; the MMTA first-grade ferro-molybdenum norm refers sampling to ISO 4552-2. Where the buyer's policy calls for it, the file carries the converter's certificate of origin and a chain of custody back to the mine to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. TMO is packed in 1 MT bulk bags, 250–400 kg steel drums or cans, and FeMo in 250 kg or 500 kg steel drums or 1 MT big bags, in lots of about 20–24 MT by container on FCA, FOB, CIF and DAP terms. Price is agreed per lot on contained molybdenum, with the Platts and Fastmarkets molybdenum assessments as reference points. Send the product, grade, form or size band, packing, tonnage and delivery point, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

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Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.