Golden run for minor metals

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The commodity price boom has extended beyond the mainstream areas of oil, gold, copper and grains into speciality metals.

Prices of bismuth, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, molybdenum, manganese, cobalt and silicon have soared over the past five years. In recent weeks, some have reached record prices.

Like the base metals of copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel, speciality metals are driven by industrial activity. Molybdenum and vanadium are used as alloys for steel to prevent corrosion. Super alloys – cobalt, titanium and chrome – are used in such specialised engineering manufacturing as jet engines.

Allan Kerr, managing director at Wogen Resources, one of the few speciality metals brokerage companies, said speciality metals tended to have a loose correlation with the base metals but, with more than 30 metals grouped under the minor metal banner, each had its own supply and demand characteristics. The current record-breaking run for some speciality metals mirrored price movements in base metals. “In 2005, we saw a good run-up in many metals, only for them to fall sharply by 2006.”




大宗商品的价格暴涨，已从石油、黄金、铜和粮食等主流领域，延伸至特种金属领域。过去5年间，铋、铱、钌、铑、钼、锰、钴和硅的价格大幅飙升。最近数周，其中一些金属的价格升至创纪录的水平。

与铜、铝、锌和镍等贱金属一样，特种金属也受到工业活动的推动。钼和钒用于各种合金，帮助钢铁防止腐蚀。而超合金——钴、钛和铬——则用于飞机引擎等特种工程制造行业。
英国五金资源(Wogen Resources)董事总经理艾伦•克尔(Allan Kerr)表示，特种金属与贱金属的相关性趋于松散，由于稀有金属有30余种，因此每种金属都有自身的供求特点。英国五金资源是为数不多的几家特种金属经纪公司之一。目前一些特种金属创纪录的价格，与此前贱金属价格走势相仿。“2005年，我们看到许多金属价格急剧上升，到了2006年又大幅下挫。”