Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the China entering the market. Then, in 2005, the average price was 70 $ US compared with
27 $ US in 2004. In 2006, the price continued to fall because of the strong supply from China.
There are all indications that in a long term the demand for vanadium will be strong [705] .
In US, the price of V 2 O 5 increased from $ US 1.34 per pound in 2002 to $ US 16.28 in 2005
and then decreased to $ US 8.08 in 2006. In Europe, V 2 O 5 prices ranged from $ 6.125 to
$ 6.388 per pound in February, as compared with $ 6.333 to $ 6.722 in January 2007.
According to Magyar [706] , in US domestic consumption of vanadium in February 2007 was
about 2% less than that of the previous month, and was about 7% more than that in February
2006. The US ferrovanadium (FeV) prices ranged from $ 15.325 to $ 15.675 per pound of
vanadium content in February, as compared with $ 15.722 to $ 16.222 in January 2007.
European FeV prices ranged from $ 32.625 to $ 34.125 per kilogram in February, as compared
with $ 30.778 to $ 31.778 in January 2007.
12.6 Alumina
Alumina is the main component of hydroprocessing catalysts, accounting for more than
70 wt.% of the fresh catalysts. Depending on the amount of contaminants, the alumina content
in spent hydroprocessing catalysts may fall below 60 wt.%. It should be noted that for the
metal reclaiming companies, the recovery of Al metal from spent catalysts might not be an
attractive option. For this purpose, shipping alumina to Al smelters makes more sense.
However, the recovery of a pure Al 2 O 3 deserves attention because of its wide applications in
various parts of industry, i.e., for reuse as catalyst support, for preparation of refractories, hot
gas clean up sorbents, etc. Until few years ago (e.g., in 2004), there was an insufficient
worldwide alumina capacity. This resulted in a sharp increase in the spot prices for alumina.
This was mostly attributed to a remarkable growth of China's economy. After the alumina
production capacity is expanded (e.g., in China), the gap between supply and demand will
narrow. However, wild swings in alumina prices may not be avoided. Thus, the response of the
alumina producers to fluctuation in the alumina may take several months. Therefore, during
the periods of alumina oversupply may push price of alumina below $ 300 per ton down from
current spot price of about $ 600 per ton.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search