China's antimony ingot prices have mostly held steady in August moving within a wide range of $5,250-5,500/mt FOB China, supported by tight raw material supplies, industry sources told Platts on Tuesday. Spot trade, however, was thin as some overseas consumers expected prices to retreat in the fourth quarter.
An official from Beijing Antaike, a state-run nonferrous information provider, said offer prices were now mostly quoted at around $5,500/mt FOB China. "Spot trade, however, remains quiet. The market may see short-term consolidation, but I expect prices would still be supported at above $5,000/mt FOB China this year," he said, adding that prolonged tight antimomy concentrate supplies would continue supporting prices amid low inventory levels at Chinese antimony production plants.
"Global supply on antimony ingot remains tight and I expect prices are likely to hold firm at above $5,000/mt in the fourth quarter," the official said.
An official from Guanglong Antimony Refinery, which exports slightly above 1,000 mt/year of antimony products, said the company recently sold antimony ingot at $5,250/mt FOB China. "Our prices settled are moving slightly downwards from $5,300/mt quoted earlier. The future movement of prices would depend on consumption from Europe," he said. The Guanglong official added that the company had recently sold some antimony trioxide at about $4,800/mt FOB China.
One Hong Kong-based trader added that offer prices in China was mostly quoted at around $5,400-5,500/mt CIF Rotterdam this week while domestic prices were now leveled at around Yuan 41,000-42,000 ($5,427-5,560)/mt ex-plant.
According to the latest figures from the country's General Administration of Customs, exports of unwrought antimony, waste and scrap during the January-July period dropped 71.7% year on year to 4,022 mt. Their value was also down 66.2% to about $19.09 million. The exports of these products in July alone were 423 mt, worth about $2.06 million, down compared with 796 mt worth about $3.9 million.
Traders said reduced exports in July were due to the summer slowdown in Europe.
An official from Beijing Antaike, a state-run nonferrous information provider, said offer prices were now mostly quoted at around $5,500/mt FOB China. "Spot trade, however, remains quiet. The market may see short-term consolidation, but I expect prices would still be supported at above $5,000/mt FOB China this year," he said, adding that prolonged tight antimomy concentrate supplies would continue supporting prices amid low inventory levels at Chinese antimony production plants.
"Global supply on antimony ingot remains tight and I expect prices are likely to hold firm at above $5,000/mt in the fourth quarter," the official said.
An official from Guanglong Antimony Refinery, which exports slightly above 1,000 mt/year of antimony products, said the company recently sold antimony ingot at $5,250/mt FOB China. "Our prices settled are moving slightly downwards from $5,300/mt quoted earlier. The future movement of prices would depend on consumption from Europe," he said. The Guanglong official added that the company had recently sold some antimony trioxide at about $4,800/mt FOB China.
One Hong Kong-based trader added that offer prices in China was mostly quoted at around $5,400-5,500/mt CIF Rotterdam this week while domestic prices were now leveled at around Yuan 41,000-42,000 ($5,427-5,560)/mt ex-plant.
According to the latest figures from the country's General Administration of Customs, exports of unwrought antimony, waste and scrap during the January-July period dropped 71.7% year on year to 4,022 mt. Their value was also down 66.2% to about $19.09 million. The exports of these products in July alone were 423 mt, worth about $2.06 million, down compared with 796 mt worth about $3.9 million.
Traders said reduced exports in July were due to the summer slowdown in Europe.
