No question niobium is useful, but you're missing my point that...

No question niobium is useful, but you're missing my point that it is and has been a small size industry for a long time. For a reason, most (but not all) of niobium's usefulness in steel is substitutable by alternatives. Fact is taken a long time for CBMM to get the size of the market up to where it is now. Just as steel in China seems to be slowing it's exponential growth of last decade, CBMM are expanding production capacity. I came across this article where CBMM themselves explain the issues and plans they have for niobium... and it doesn't look like something the super-majors would be interested in imo...

Taken from the article below, the situation with niobium as a small market with substitute risk is well understood. Not that it can't get bigger, just that developers of new projects have this horse-and-cart problem where the size they need to perhaps help increase the market is not available until they actually increase supply first and create their own demand. AIMHO of course.

Off to a long lunch so won;t be replying to any more questions today. GLTAH

https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/en/the-niobium-controversy-2/