Niobium is a rarely used metal, with annual consumption amounting to perhaps 75,000 mt, most of it in steelmaking. Its pricing is also remarkably stable compared to practically any other metal one can think of. So why the sudden flurry of interest?

To start with, it is worth visiting the existing industry structure. By far the leading actor in niobium is CBMM, operator of the Araxá mine in Brazil. Next is the Catalão mine, reasonably close to Araxá and currently owned by China Molybdenum (previously owned by Anglo American). Third place goes to the Niobec Mine in Québec, Canada, an asset of Magris Performance Minerals. And fourth is Mineração Taboca, part of the Peruvian Minsur group (although reportedly currently for sale according to sources in London), which recovers niobium as a by-product of tin mining in the Brazilian Amazon.

Besides these four mines, artisanal mining (mainly in Nigeria and Brazil) is an important although modest source of niobium. So, at first blush, one could understand the appeal of niobium purely from the perspective of market structure.\

The demand side adds some spice. As mentioned above, at present the main application for niobium (as ferroniobium) is in steelmaking, where the addition of a fraction of a percent by weight of niobium can (very roughly) double the strength of steel. Steel accounts for close to 90% of niobium demand but the market is relatively mature

However, there are numerous smaller markets, all faster growing . . .

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