Antimony ingot prices still rising

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 11 Feb 09 – Despite that consumers are reluctant to accept the increasing price, producers continue to lift their offers for antimony ingot in the name of tight supply. Some producers have started to quote RMB30,000-31,000/t ex works for the material, market sources reported to Asian Metal.
A Hunan-based antimony ingot producer just resumed production but has not started to offer. "We received several inquiries last week. Some buyers bid RMB28,000/t ex works early last week and RMB29,000/t ex works at the end of last week, but we did not sell the material as we think the price is likely to rise further," said the source.
The source said that the supply is tight as most smelters have just resumed production without much material to put into the market. Additionally, some consumers who did not make purchase before the Spring Festival may be anxious for raw material in order to maintain production. Therefore, the source predicts that the market will continue its upward trend in the following two weeks.
With a capacity of 300tpm, the smelter holds a certain quantity of antimony ingot in stock. The source revealed that their previous deal was concluded at around RMB26,000/t ex works in late January.
An antimony trioxide producer, with a capacity of 2,000tpy, confirmed that the antimony ingot price is still hiking. "We received a few inquiries for antimony trioxide, but we have not taken those orders as we failed to replenish the stock of antimony ingot," said the source.
The source revealed that some producers increased their offers of antimony ingot to RMB31,000/t ex works early this week, up from RMB28,000-29,000/t ex works a week ago. As buyers resist the price increase of antimony trioxide, antimony trioxide producers are put into dilemma.
The source also believes that the antimony ingot market will continue to rise in rest of this month, but it may calm down in early March when more material is found in the market.