Production rose from 43.7 million pounds in the first quarter of 2014 to 49.9 million pounds in the second quarter, an increase of 14% on the previous quarter and an increase of 7% compared to the same quarter in 2013. Production in China increased from 44.1 million pounds in the first quarter of 2014 to 49.6 million pounds in the second quarter, an increase of 12%.
However, China remained the biggest user, with 47.6 million pounds in the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 2% from 46.6 million pounds in the previous quarter, but still 4% less than the 49.6 million pounds recorded in the same quarter in 2013.
Ups and downs
Global production increased to 142.9 million pounds for the second quarter, up 7% from 133.4 million pounds in the previous quarter, and 4% higher compared with the same period in 2013.Production in South America fell from 36.6 million pounds in the first quarter of 2014 to 34.4 in the second quarter and production in other countries remained virtually unchanged at 9 million pounds.
Global use of molybdenum in the second quarter of 2014 increased to 139.9 million pounds, up 3% from 136.1 million pounds in the previous quarter and 4% higher than the same quarter in 2013, the IMOA says.
Europe was the second largest user with 37.4 million pounds, an increase of 1% from 36.9 million pounds in the previous quarter and an increase of 6% compared to the same quarter in 2013, while usage in the USA increased by 7% to 15.8 million pounds compared with 14.8 in the previous quarter, while use in Japan also increased slightly from 14.8 million pounds in the first quarter of 2014 to 15 million pounds in second quarter of 2014. Usage in the CIS countries increased by 6% to 6.5 million pounds, while usage in other countries also increased to 17.5 million pounds.