Production and price of wire EDM molybdenum wire

    Wire EDM molybdenum wire is a high-purity metal product made of 99.97% molybdenum. Molybdenum powder is a silver-white metal with the sixth highest melting point among all metal materials. It has excellent heat resistance, corrosion resistance and wear resistance. It has been widely used in the field of electrical machining since the 1970s.

     According to statistics in 2022, global molybdenum ore reserves are approximately 26 million tons. Among them: China, the United States, Canada, Chile, Australia, Russia and Mongolia and other countries and regions have rich molybdenum deposits. The molybdenum ore resources owned by China account for about 25% of the world's total proven reserves. China is also the world's largest producer of wire-cut molybdenum wire, accounting for more than 95% of global production. The more well-known brands include: JDC, TAGUTI, Honglu, Great Wall, etc., which provide important guarantees for the global electrical processing industry.

    1. Production process of wire EDM molybdenum wire

    The production of wire EDM molybdenum wire is a complex process that requires strict operating procedures and professional equipment. The following are the steps for producing wire EDM molybdenum wire:

    (1) Molybdenum powder production: molybdenum powder was reduced from ammonium molybdate or high purity molybdenum oxide.

    (2) Screen molybdenum powder: screen the reduced molybdenum powder to remove impurities mixed in it to ensure the quality of the product after smelting.

    (3) Prepare materials: high-purity molybdenum powder, smelting furnace, protective gas (for example: argon).

    (4) Smelting molybdenum powder: put the screened molybdenum powder into the smelting furnace, and gradually increase the temperature of the smelting furnace until the molybdenum powder is completely melted. During the smelting process, the temperature of the furnace needs to be controlled according to the melting point and melting state of the molybdenum powder, and the impact of oxygen and other impurities on the molybdenum powder needs to be reduced through protective gas.

    (5) Separation and removal of impurities: after the molybdenum powder is completely melted, the impurities and insoluble substances in the furnace can be separated by filtration or centrifugation to improve the purity of the product.

    (6) Out of the furnace and cooling: after the molybdenum powder is smelted, it is taken out of the smelting furnace and placed in a specific mold for cooling until it is completely solidified to produce a molybdenum rod.

    (7) The molybdenum rod is processed into a ø5~ø6 mm molybdenum rod through high-temperature rolling.

    (8) Then the molybdenum rod is stretched through multiple passes to produce the wire-cut EDM molybdenum wire required by the final customer.

    The common diameter specifications of molybdenum wire are: ø0.12mm, ø0.13mm, ø0.14mm, ø0.15mm, ø0.16mm, ø0.18mm, ø0.20mm, ø0.22mm, ø0.25mm. Users can choose the corresponding wire EDM molybdenum wire according to different factors such as the requirements of the mold, the material (thickness) of the processing material, and the performance of the machine tools. Based on TAGUTI 28 years of production and sales experience, the most commonly used specifications are: ø0.18mm*2000m, ø0.20mm*1600m.

Picture 1: Professional molybdenum wire drawing equipment

    2. Price and influencing factors of wire EDM molybdenum wire

    The supply-demand relationship of Mo is one of the key factors that determines the price fluctuation of molybdenum wire. Due to Mo's wide application in aerospace, energy, chemical and electrical processing industries, its demand has always been relatively strong. We now take the Mo price trend of the London Metal Exchange (LME) as an example to show you the Mo price trend in the past two years.

Picture 3: London Metal Exchange (LME) molybdenum price chart  

Weight unit: pounds

    From the picture above, we can see that in January 2023, affected by the expected growth of the macro economy, the price of Mo reached a high of nearly 10 years, about 38.50USD per pound. At this time, the price of wire EDM molybdenum wire (ø0.18mm*2000m, ø0.20mm*1600m) reaches 72.00--79.00USD/PC. However, with the slowdown in world economic growth and instability in some regions, the demand for Mo has decreased, which has had a negative impact on the price of Mo, and the price of Mo shows a gradual downward trend. The price of Mo were basically stable in 2024. As of the end of November 2024, it was about 21.50USD per pound. The current price of wire-cut molybdenum wire (ø0.18mm*2000m and ø0.20mm*1600m) is 53.00-59.00USD/PC.

    All in all, new mine mining, improvements in mining technology, upgrades in smelting processes, and development in recycling technology will have a direct or indirect impact on the price of Mo. The global economic situation, international trade policy and monetary policy will also have an impact on the Mo market and directly affect the price of Mo. Therefore, we can pay attention to demand changes in related industries and molybdenum output, and pay close attention to macroeconomic policies and international situations to predict the upward or downward trend of Mo prices.