Antimony trioxide,Antimony ingot,antimony metals market summary Aug 17-21

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 24 Aug 09 - Weak demand dominates antimony ingot and antimony trioxide market in the week. Producers try to attract more buyers by cutting down offers, but most end users and traders still hold watch-and-wait attitudes.

Major antimony ingot producers reduce offers to RMB40,500/t (USD5,930/t) ex works from previous RMB41,000/t (USD6,003/t) ex works to attract buyers, but demand continues to be low. Some consumers reported to have purchased antimony ingot at RMB39,200-39,300/t (USD5,739-5,754/t) ex works for the production of antimony trioxide. Meanwhile, some small smelters also lower offers to RMB35,500/t ex works VAT excluded owing to weak demand, but they do not intend to decrease the price further because antimony concentrate price lingers at high levels. Some producers reported that the price of antimony concentrate 20-30%min stands at RMB25,000-26,000 (USD3,660-3,807/t) per metal tons ex works and some suppliers offer as high as RMB30,000 (USD4,392/t) per metal tons ex works for antimony concentrate 50%min. For fear that the antimony price may drop, antimony ingot producers are cautious about purchasing raw material.

Antimony trioxide market also keeps dull and the price has seen a decrease over the week affected by sluggish demand. Some producers who offered RMB36,000/t (USD5,271/t) ex works or higher prices in the previous week lower offers to RMB35,300-35,500/t (USD5,168-5,198/t) ex works and some reportedly concluded deals at around RMB35,000/t ex works.

The export market for antimony ingot remains stagnant with foreign buyers absent for holidays. As Chinese domestic price for the material declines slightly, participants expect the export price to go down accordingly. Some suppliers no longer make offers because there are few buyers in the market. However, major exporters claimed they would not accept prices lower than USD6,300/t FOB Chinese main ports.

Due to the price decrease of antimony trioxide domestically, some suppliers start to make lower offers for the material to foreign buyers. Some of them cut down offers to USD5,200-5,300/t FOB China from previous USD5,300-5,400/t FOB Chinese main ports, but few deals are being closed in the market.