[+/-] : South Korean buyers away from magnesium ingot market

5 Sep 08 - Consumers and traders continue to stay away from the magnesium market in South Korea. Activity is not expected in the coming one or two weeks, sources reported to Asian Metal.
A trader from South Korea described the magnesium ingot market as asleep, citing that only two or three consumers have made tentative inquiries during the past two weeks without any deals concluded. "We feel that the demand is still there, but consumers are all holding on for lower prices," said the source.
The source received offers of USD4,100-4,150/t FOB China from regular suppliers in China but has no intention of buying as no good inquiries came recently. Furthermore, the source heard that some Chinese suppliers could offer as low as USD4,000/t FOB China, so he thinks that offers he received were not so practical.
Another Korean trader confirmed the static market and also expressed the concern about the future market conditions. "We find ourselves in a predicament," said the source, further explaining that major Chinese suppliers stick to the offers of USD4,150-4,200/t FOB China while consumers are talking the price down to USD3,850-3,900/t CIF Korean main ports.
"Our suppliers told us that the price floor policy issued by Chinese customs is affecting the magnesium exports. Combined with the high-held cost, they won't lower offers further," said the source. However, the source still dares not place an order without seeing solid demand in the local market.
According to the source, the company used to sell more than 500t of magnesium ingot per month, but only concluded two or three small deals in the past one month. The source does not think the market will warm up in September seeing the current weak demand.
Meanwhile, a third trader claimed that they just bought a container of magnesium ingot at USD4,000/t CIF Korean main ports, believing that the market is reaching the bottom and there is little room for the price to go down further.

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[+/-] : Russian antimony ingot price runs at high levels

3 Sep 08 - Participants expressed even though the demand is low, the price of antimony 99.65%min remains stable at the high level of RUB200-205/kg (USD8062-8263/t),unchanged from last week.
Some local traders do not know what to do about the high price. They revealed some traders have quoted above RUB210/kg (USD8464/t), but most deals are concluded at RUB200-205/kg (USD8062-8263/t).
A smelter in Russia quotes RUB207/kg for antimony 99.65%min. He stated that there are few inquiries from consumers. Consumers are watching the market. Therefore, few deals are concluded at present.
"Few deals are concluded due to the low demand. We may lower our quotations in order to sell the metal in bulk," he said. In addition, China is a large producing country of antimony and has a say in the pricing of antimony products. Some traders and consumers in Russia imported antimony from China. Therefore, the current high quotation of Chinese antimony ingot is one of the most important reasons of the highly stable price in Russia. The smelter's monthly production volume is around 60 tons.
A trader in Russia said the mainstream price of antimony 99.65%min remains stable at RUB200/kg (USD8062/t), unchanged from last week. He quotes RUB205/kg (USD8263/t) this week, down by RUB2/kg (USD80/t) compared with that of last week. However, he has not concluded any deals so far. In view of the current condition, he believes the price of antimony may go down slightly in a short time.

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[+/-] : No improvement in magnesium ingots market

3 Sep 08 – Market participants told Asian Metal that there was no improvement in magnesium market conditions, with difficulties increasing in sales. Many of them seem reluctant to look too far into the future.
A Shanxi-based smelter reported that the magnesium market has been inactive, and buyers show little interest in purchasing. "Some buyers have indeed been inquiring, but they did nothing except asking for a price," said the source.
Due to the weakened demand, the smelter, with a capacity of 12,000tpy, has reduced production by half. It has no stock at the moment, but is still under great pressure of sales. "Considering the high production cost, we're reluctant to sell magnesium ingot at prices below RMB24,500/t (USD3,582/t) ex works, but no buyer accepts such a price," said the source, adding that they sold small quantities of magnesium ingot at around RMB24,300/t (USD3,553/t) ex works early this week.
A trader from Sichuan just purchased around 40t of magnesium ingot from a Shaanxi-based smelter at RMB25,000/t (USD3,644/t) delivered, with RMB800/t (USD1,17/t) for transportation cost. "The price has not changed much this week, but the magnesium market is still very weak," said the source, citing that they usually sell 120-150t of magnesium ingot to end users in the local market whereas the total trading volume in July and August was less than 80t.
The source mainly supplies manufacturers of magnesium alloy and aluminum profile. Due to the price hike in the first half of this year, many magnesium alloy producers switched to produce aluminum alloy, and aluminum profile producers reduced consumption of magnesium ingot.
The source said it is still too difficult to predict the market in the rest of the year, but believes that more activity will be seen in the spot market in the fourth quarter as long as the magnesium prices keep comparatively stable.

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[+/-] : Manganese flakes market falls down in Asian markets

1 Sep 08 - Manganese market falls down in Asia though more buyers were expected to enter the market after the summer holidays. Demand of the material remains stagnant and few deals are concluded at current prices of around USD3,900-3,950/t FOB.
A South Korean trader claimed that they have already booked some materials in the middle of August, purchased at around USD3,950/t CIF Incheon. "Actually, many downstream consumers still have some stocks at hand, and they keep pressing the price down," said the source who reported that due to the lower prices in China domestic market, the suppliers lowered their offers to slightly below USD3,900/t FOB at the moment.
The source expects more buying activity in the middle of this month while as the supply also increases gradually, the source thinks the price might fail to rebound. "The overall market is no in good shape this year and the consumers use fewer manganese products this year."
The source complained that the gradually booming manganese briquette market is another reason for less manganese demand. "The much cheaper price attracts more traders and consumers to transfer to this material," said the source.
Another Japanese trader who also keeps some stocks at hand told Asian Metal that the price they get from Chinese suppliers are dropping at the moment. "The offer we receive now is at around USD3,850-3,900/t FOB, compared with USD3,900-3,950/t FOB in the last week," said the source who still has no intention of replenishing some stocks.
The source also deals in some manganese briquette, whose price is around USD3,400/t FOB for the moment. "Manganese market is sliding with few materials purchased from China while the supply keeps increasing, so we think the price might fall further in the coming weeks," said the source who reported that the European and Asian Markets still see large stockpiles at hand. "Some buyers are purchasing, but they just want to buy materials for prompt release."

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[+/-] : Manganese flakes market summary Aug 25-29

1 Sep 08 - Manganese market remains dull in the last week of August. Sources reported to Asian Metal that with the supply slightly recovering, manganese price starts to slide down while demand in both domestic and foreign markets keeps weak for the moment.
ASome domestic traders are about to replenish some stocks before the consumers enter the market but they refused to accept the higher prices of around RMB20,800/t (USD3,045/t) ex works. So some suppliers have to accept lower prices once they are in need of cash for turnover. More deals are concluded at relatively lower prices of around RMB20,600/t ex works. Some buyers claimed that they managed to purchase some material in the week at much lower prices of around RMB20,400/t ex works from suppliers who could still enjoy some profits and on top of that, some smelters have to reduce their stocks as they fail to conclude many deals for September.
Manganese demand keeps weak for the moment. Many foreign and domestic consumers still have some materials at hand purchased before the Olympics. And the consumers are still not satisfactory at current price level of around USD3,900/t FOB and RMB20,600/t (USD3,016/t) ex works while demand of stainless steel is also low and the profits are very low. There are some bids reported this week in Europe and South Asia but the price is not attracting at all at below USD3,900/t FOB. Some small deals were concluded during the week at prices of around USD3,950/t FOB but most exporters failed to get such a good price. Many of them are willing to sell at the price of USD3,900/t FOB but received no reply from the foreign buyers. Manganese briquette price is around USD3,400-3,450/t FOB in the week and the price might decrease slightly with manganese price falling in domestic market.
Manganese flakes price is around USD4,000-4,100/t in warehouse Rotterdam in the week with demand remains sluggish. More consumers and traders are interested in manganese briquette but they are in no hurry to purchase at the moment while the overall market trend is softening.
The price floor in some major Customs remains high at around USD3,900/t FOB for manganese flakes and USD4,000/t FOB for manganese ingot. Some exporters who concluded deals before August failed to get through the Customs smoothly and have to pay extra tax due to the high price floor, which adds to the export cost and reduces the profits.

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