Vanadium production is strongly related to world production of crude steel, which is up 10.8% in China alone in November 2018 compared to November 2017 (see below). Keep an eye on the vanadium spot price to see how it responds over the coming months, vanadium pentoxide was fetching between US$5.00-US$7.00/lb this time last year, before it's move up to ~US$33.00/lb. Once price stabilises and cyclical factors turn, we should see continued upward pressure on spot prices. 

November 2018 crude steel production

20 December 2018 Brussels, Belgium

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 148.6 million tonnes (Mt) in November 2018, a 5.8% increase compared to November 2017.

China’s crude steel production for November 2018 was 77.6 Mt, an increase of 10.8% compared to November 2017. Japan produced 8.7 Mt of crude steel in November 2018, a decrease of 0.5% compared to November 2017. South Korea produced 5.9 Mt of crude steel this month, up 1.1% on November 2017.

In the EU, France produced 1.4 Mt of crude steel in November 2018, an increase of 12.8% compared to November 2017. Italy’s crude steel production for November 2018 was 2.2 Mt, down by 1.0% on November 2017. Spain produced 1.3 Mt in November 2018, a decrease of 0.7% on 2017.

Brazil produced 2.8 Mt of crude steel in November 2018, down 6.1% on November 2017.

Turkey's crude steel production for November 2018 was 3.1 Mt, a decrease of 2.1% compared to November 2017.

Crude steel production in Ukraine was 1.7 Mt this month, down 11.2% on November 2017.

The US produced 7.4 Mt of crude steel in November 2018, an increase of 11.8% compared to November 2017.

https://www.worldsteel.org/media-centre/press-releases/2018/november-2018-crude-steel-production.html