POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL CONTROL
The American Vanadium Co. holds its mines in Peru through a concession from the Peruvian government. Thus at least two-thirds of the vanadium production of the world is practically in the hands of the Peruvian government, although the company operating is American.
Formerly the American Vanadium Co. was the only producer of vanadium products and ferrovanadium in the world. The price of vanadium was then somewhere around $5.00 per pound for the metallic vanadium content of the ferrovanadium. Later the Primos Chemical Co. came into the field, and the American Vanadium Co. cut the price. On account of the large deposits of ore that the Primos Chemical Co. had in Colorado, the result was simply a lowering of the price of ferrovanadium. Undoubtedly, if it were not for this competition the price of vanadium during that period would have been higher than it was, and if it were not for the Primos Chemical Co., the American Vanadium Co. would have had practically a monopoly of the whole vanadium production, as the output from carnotite was not large enough to affect the market seriously. As it was, these two companies controlled more than 90 per cent. of the ore supply, and thus the recent change of ownership to the Vanadium Products Corporation will enable the latter to fix the price, as well as to regulate the consumption and thus prolong the availability of a useful metal which otherwise would be likely to soon become exhausted. The principal vanadium deposits of Chihuahua, Mexico, are controlled by the Madero estate (Mexican).
This dominance of control of sources of supply has made control through ownership of reduction plants, patents and secret processes of less importance.