Ferrovanadium (FeV) · 45–50% versus 80% vanadium grades, silicothermic versus aluminothermic production, use as a steel alloying addition, price basis, HTS 7202.92 tariff and import sources, and addition-rate calculation
Ferrovanadium is an iron–vanadium alloy supplied in lumps or granules and added to molten steel to introduce vanadium, which raises strength and toughness; it is made by reducing vanadium pentoxide with silicon or aluminium, or in an electric arc furnace, and sold by vanadium content. Ask three things first: which vanadium grade and production route you need, what size range and impurity limits suit your steelmaking practice, and how the price is quoted per unit of contained vanadium.
Ferrovanadium alloys (about 45–50% and 80% vanadium) for steel and iron production, in lump or granule form. Vanadium pentoxide, vanadium–aluminium master alloys for titanium alloys, vanadium chemicals and vanadium redox battery electrolyte are outside this page.
CNFX editorial research · Sources checked October 11, 2026 · 4 sources
The USGS 2021 Minerals Yearbook on vanadium reports that ferrovanadium is used to add vanadium to steel for strength and toughness, and that 5,320 t of FeV consumed in 2021 represented 66% of reported US vanadium use. It says FeV is available with either 45% to 50% or 80% vanadium; the 45–50% grade is produced by silicothermic reduction of V₂O₅ in slag or other vanadium-bearing materials, and for the 80% grade it names aluminothermic reduction of V₂O₅ with steel scrap and direct reduction in an electric arc furnace. [2]
The 2025 Mineral Commodity Summary adds that metallurgical use accounted for more than 90% of reported US vanadium consumption in 2024, and that US secondary producers made ferrovanadium from petroleum residues, spent catalysts and utility ash. [1]
Editorial calculation: to raise vanadium by 0.10% in a 100 t heat you need 100 kg of contained vanadium; with 80% FeV and an assumed 90% recovery that is 100 / (0.80 × 0.90) ≈ 139 kg of alloy, and with 50% FeV about 222 kg. Ask the steel plant for its actual recovery and the supplier for certified vanadium content.
Give the supplier the vanadium grade (45–50% or 80%), production route if specified, lump or granule size range, limits for carbon, silicon, aluminium, phosphorus and sulphur, certificate of analysis and sampling method, packing (bags, drums), quantity in contained vanadium, price basis and delivery terms.
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Check the price basis, tariff and import sources
USGS gives an estimated 2024 US ferrovanadium price (78–82% vanadium content) of $12.84 per pound, down from $16.42 in 2023, and lists HTS 7202.92.0000 for ferrovanadium at 4.2% ad valorem (normal trade relations, 31 December 2024). Ferrovanadium imports for consumption were about 1,800 t of vanadium content in 2024 and exports 70 t; FeV imports in 2020–23 came from Canada (48%), Austria (37%), Russia (7%) and others (8%). [1]
It notes that vanadium follows the steel market, especially in China, which remained the largest producer in 2024, and that manganese, molybdenum, niobium, titanium and tungsten can partly substitute for vanadium in steel. [1]
Editorial calculation: at $12.84 per pound of contained vanadium, the 100 kg of vanadium in the example above costs about 100 × 2.2046 × 12.84 ≈ $2,830 before freight and duty; confirm whether a quote is per pound of contained vanadium or per kilogram of alloy. [1]
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Find ferrovanadium manufacturers
04
Match the vanadium additive to the steel you make
USGS Circular 930-K on vanadium, published in 1992, explains why steelmakers buy ferrovanadium: vanadium is a strong carbide-forming element that raises the strength of ferrite, and that it improves the case-hardening characteristics of steel. It reports that about 90 percent of the 31,000 metric tons of vanadium produced in 1984 went into steelmaking, and that 35 percent of that went into high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) structural steels with yield points greater than 276 megapascals. In those steels, the circular lists vanadium, molybdenum, niobium and titanium among the alloying elements, and vanadium strengthens them by precipitation hardening and refining of the ferrite grain. [3]
The circular describes ferrovanadium as a vanadium-carbon-iron alloy containing 50 to 86 percent vanadium, made by reducing vanadium pentoxide with carbon, silicon or aluminium, with types distinguished by their vanadium, silicon and carbon contents. It names proprietary alternatives, including a carbon-rich product with 83 to 86 percent vanadium and 10 percent carbon, a vanadium nitride additive and a modified vanadium oxide. In tool steels it says vanadium can raise grain-coarsening temperatures to 1,030 °C. [3]
Editorial note: the figures are from 1992, so use them to frame the order, not as current market data. State whether you need a ferrovanadium, a carbide or a nitride addition, and give the supplier your carbon and silicon limits, because the circular separates FeV types by those elements.
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Set the aluminium limit and ask how the smelter meets it
A 2020 University of Pretoria dissertation, funded by a South African producer, describes the aluminothermic route for 80% ferrovanadium: V2O3 is reduced by aluminium in a direct current arc furnace, with CaO as flux, and the slag reaches 2100 °C before tapping. Iron alloys with the vanadium and lowers its melting point from 1910 °C to 1730 °C. Its Table 1.1, citing Gupta (1992), lists 77–83% vanadium for the 80% ferrovanadium grade. The dissertation gives the product specification requirement as an aluminium content below 1.5 wt%, and explains the trade-off: adding more aluminium raises vanadium recovery but also raises the aluminium in the metal, which can push it out of specification. [4]
In its laboratory tests, vanadium recovery fell linearly from 75 wt% to 25 wt% as the slag (CaO+MgO):Al2O3 ratio rose from 0.30 to 1.43. A two-stage melt, with 3.5 wt% excess aluminium in the first stage and Fe2O3 added in the second to bring aluminium below 1.5 wt%, recovered 72.6 wt% of the vanadium against 71.4 wt% for a single stage, but lowered the vanadium content of the metal from 68.6 wt% to 63.5 wt%. [4]
At the plant described, metal and slag cool in the ladle for 13 hours, and the metal is sampled for analysis once it has cooled to room temperature. Editorial note: write the aluminium maximum and the vanadium range into the order, and ask the supplier for the heat analysis taken on the cooled metal, so that an aluminium-reduction step cannot lower vanadium below your contract range unnoticed. [4]
Ferrovanadium order sheet: grade, route, impurities, packing and tariff
The price and duty in this table are US figures from USGS; impurity, size and packing limits have no published value here and follow your own melt-shop practice.
Field
What it means and published values
Ask the supplier for
Vanadium content (%)
45–50% or 80% grades; price quoted for 78–82%. [2][1]
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Compiled and source-reviewed by the CNFX editorial team.
Each manufacturer above links to the page on that company's own website where the product is listed, with the date we checked it. How we source and review
· Page last updated 13 October 2026
Buyer questions
What grades of ferrovanadium are sold?
USGS reports alloys with either 45% to 50% or 80% vanadium. [2]
How is 80% ferrovanadium made?
The USGS Minerals Yearbook names aluminothermic reduction of V₂O₅ with steel scrap, and direct reduction in an electric arc furnace. [2]
What was the US ferrovanadium price in 2024?
USGS estimates $12.84 per pound for 78–82% vanadium content, against $16.42 in 2023. [1]
How much vanadium goes into HSLA steel?
USGS Circular 930-K lists vanadium with molybdenum, niobium and titanium as alloying elements in HSLA steels, added in the form of ferrovanadium or other vanadium alloys; ask your steel plant for the vanadium aim of the grade you make. [3]
What aluminium limit applies to aluminothermic ferrovanadium?
A 2020 University of Pretoria dissertation gives the product specification requirement as aluminium below 1.5 wt%, and notes that adding more aluminium to raise vanadium recovery also raises the aluminium left in the metal. [4]
Sources and what still needs a direct check
Sources checked 2026-10-11. USGS publications report US statistics and general production routes; they do not certify any product. Analysis and price for your order must come from the supplier's certificate and contract.
