Four Questions for Stella Li, Global Molybdenum Sales Manager at JDC

"Four Questions For" is a new interview series by Metalshub. We interview commodity experts with questions that go below the surface.

Stella, can you explain to us your professional background? When did you first come in contact with molybdenum?

My major in university was English. I worked as an intern in many companies during the holidays. I used to intern in one big private steel company in the eastern part of China in the export and import department for one year. That was the first time in my life I heard about the special metal named molybdenum. Those experiences also encouraged me to be an international businessman one day. So I googled famous companies in Xi'an and one of them was JDC, who is one of the leading molybdenum companies in the world. I got a chance to interview and because of my internship experience, I won the position to join JDC. I started in the molybdenum business in 2008 and I'm there up to now. It has almost been 10 years!

What are your responsibilities at JDC?

I am in charge of JDC's global metallurgical business. Our market covers all continents, Europe, America, Australia, Asia and Africa. As you may know very well, we always say that in every molybdenum consuming market you can hear JDC's voice. We are very proud that we got trust and reputation in every market and in many of them we are one of the biggest suppliers. But the most meaningful thing to me is not the orders we get, but the trust and credibility.

Stella, you have a lot of experience in the moly market, what are the regional preferences with regards to molybdenum products used?

Well, on this question, yes, there are some differences between Chinese and European mills on the FeMo grade. In China, most steel mills use FeMo with grade between 55-65% Mo and sometimes also briquettes. In Japan, steel mills use moly oxide powder directly. And their FeMo is also of 60-62% Mo grade. This is mainly due to technology and cost reasons, or maybe just their habits. We know some big mills in North Europe who could also use lower grade FeMo and sometimes even use pure moly metal as substitute, all depending on cost. For JDC, we can provide FeMo with grades 55% to 70% Mo and also molybdenum briquettes.

Why have you joined Metalshub and what benefits do you expect?

Digital business, or B2B is very popular in China. We also have some B2B platform for steel and commodities which are quite popular and successful in China, like Zhaogang.com. In the western market, there were some attempts in the past but they were unsuccessful. When we first got to know Metalshub, we had the straight feeling this would be totally different than the previous! The founders, you guys, are all insiders in this industry who have a lot of experience. You know what customers need, you know what supplier should do and what they can do. You know how to link closely and effectively between end users and suppliers. You know how to satisfy both of them. You have the professional team to provide all solutions and services to both parties. We are very happy to be a stable and active supplier on this platform, to get to know more customers and to supply our reliable products combined with your excellent service. And we do expect one day you will also establish the same platform in China.