Vanadium

A steel strengthening metal that also powers grid scale flow batteries.

Overview

Most vanadium goes into steel, where small additions of ferrovanadium strengthen rebar and high strength alloys. Supply comes mainly from China, Russia, South Africa and Brazil, much of it recovered from steel slag or co-produced with iron ore rather than mined on its own. Tighter Chinese rebar standards in 2018 boosted demand and sent prices to a sharp spike that year. Vanadium redox flow batteries store electricity in tanks of vanadium electrolyte and are a growing niche for long duration grid storage. Prices are quoted for vanadium pentoxide flake and ferrovanadium by reporting agencies, and the market is small, opaque and prone to violent swings when Chinese policy or steel demand shifts.