Chinese antimony suppliers cease offering

10 Oct 09 – Most Chinese producers and traders cease offering for antimony ingot after the mining accident took place in Lengshuijiang, Hunan province which claimed 26 dead and 5 injured. It is reported that the provincial government will start to shut down smelters and mines in the region to carry out overall inspections. Market sources anticipate a price jump in following few days or weeks.
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A Hunan-based antimony ingot producer who is still running with a monthly output of 70-80t has stopped offering since Friday. "We were informed that the local and provincial government would take an overall inspection on mining safety soon. If we are required to close down, we will have no material to be yielded, so we're unwilling to sell our product from stock," said the source with around 100t of antimony ingot in hand.
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The source reported that the local market has gone chaotic since the mining accident took place. Many smelters have suspended offering and some start to quote as high as RMB39,000-40,000/t (USD5,710-5,857/t) ex works VAT excluded for antimony ingot 99.65%min which was sold at only RMB36,000-36,500/t (USD5,271-5,344/t) ex works VAT excluded in late September. "It's meaningless for suppliers to send offers or for buyers to receive offers, because whatever suppliers quote, they don't want to sell at the moment," said the source.
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A Hunan-based antimony trioxide producer confirmed that most antimony ingot suppliers have ceased offering, and the antimony market situation gets tense. "It's rather difficult to buy antimony ingot from the local market. Most producers are holding back from selling for fear that they will be asked to halt production soon due to the recently happened accident," said the source.
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The source bought a batch of antimony ingot that is used for antimony trioxide production at RMB37,200/t (USD5,447/t) ex works VAT excluded during the National Day holiday but complained that some long-term suppliers refused to sell the material at prices below RMB38,500/t (USD5,637/t) ex works VAT excluded. Meanwhile, the source revealed that major smelters who concluded deals at RMB39,500-40,000/t (USD5,783-5,857/t) ex works before the long holiday also do not send offers, and some claimed that they would not sell the material at prices lower than RMB42,000/t (USD6,149/t) ex works.
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According to the source, not only sellers but also buyers are keeping a close eye on the market trend and also movement of the relevant government.