Vanadium price, page-30

Vince has been hammering on about AVL’s ability to withstand and make good profits in ANY market so I can see why they tweeted it. The steel mills are virtually not operating , and won’t till after CNY.
And as lots have commented, vanadium is really the construction steel market now, with VRFB market developing but still in its infancy.That said ,this article makes a few funny aspersions the main one being

‘ Mills in China could cut buying prices and volumes shifting as much as possible to non-grade 3 rebar and adhering to standards as little as possible ‘

For a start there is NO rebar standard lower than grade 3 ( it’s the lowest@400 MPa). Or if by that they are hypothetically saying mills not complying to the major standards introduced this year ( GB/T 1499.2-2018) then it’s a big risk for any company and very serious. Including prison and closures.
Major part of new regulations is compliance. And new marks on rebar identifying
1)when it was produced
2)where it was produced
3)the grade of the steel.
Inspectors sample steel on projects now to determine compliance.
Grade 3 is only one of the new levels( .3kg p/tonne steel). In the North of China the area is designated earthquake zoned so the standard is Grade 5 (1kg p/ tonne steel), 330% more vanadium required.
The reason for this is not flippant, the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake killed over 70,000 people where 7,000 school buildings collapsed with thousands of school children dying. Shoddy construction including weak reinforcing steel was determined a major factor.
Total cost ? $150 Billion USD.