"Haywood's analysis noted that annual world moly consumption totals 400 million pounds and is growing at an estimated rate of 5 to 7% (+20 million pounds) per year. "At this rate, a new +20 million-pound producer will be needed each year just to meet the world's growing demand for molybdenum ,"

"Hence we anticipate molybdenum prices will remain strong over the short to medium term as supply struggles to meet demand," according to Haywood. "A high molybdenum price environment over the past 3 years has encouraged preferential molybdenum ‘high-grading' at a number of copper porphyry operations. However, this practice is not sustainable over longer periods, and we anticipate that a number of producers will report lower molybdenum production on a go-forward basis as operations are forced to return to ‘life-of-mine' grades."

"In light of the expectations of many market participants that growth in demand will continue to outpace supply, a handful of primary molybdenum and co-production projects for existing and proposed mines are currently under consideration," the analysts advised. "However, some face notable financial, technical, and/or political challenges, which will likely delay market availability of this new molybdenum production potential."

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