Antimony Ingots,Antimony trioxide offers slightly rise amid thin trading

Despite thin trading in the market, some producers and traders slightly raise offers for antimony trioxide due to the environmental crackdown. However, they do not think the price will see a great increase given the fact that demand for the material remains slack.
A Hunan-based producer, who is operating with a monthly output of around 450t, currently quotes RMB35,800/t (USD5,242/t) ex works for antimony trioxide 99.8%min, RMB200-300/t (USD29-44/t) higher than offers at the beginning of September. "All the smelting enterprises, including many crude antimony oxide producers, in the industrial park in Yiyang were shut down for pollution, so consumers who usually purchase material there will have to turn to other suppliers," said the source. "We received a little more inquiries recently, so we decided to raise offers slightly." The source also worries that the supply of antimony ore and antimony ingot will further tighten if government takes more stringent measures to regulate mining and smelting.
Meanwhile, the source acknowledged that demand for antimony trioxide both domestically and overseas keeps weak on the whole. Therefore, the price for the material is unlikely to rise by a large scale in a short time. The source predicts that the market will start to turn better from late September and more activities will be seen in October.
"One of our suppliers in Hunan who agreed to sell us antimony trioxide 99.8%min at RMB34,500/t (USD5,051/t) ex works with cash payment raised offers to RMB35,000/t (USD5,124/t) ex works," said a trader based in Central China. "The supplier told us that antimony concentrate supply gets tighter and the price rises again. Since their production cost might increase on higher raw material price, they decide to raise offers."
The source reported that he received more inquiries from end users in the local market, indicating better demand. Therefore, he plans to purchase some antimony trioxide this week in order to cash in on higher price. However, the source does not think the antimony trioxide price will rise because buyers may shy away from the market again on higher-than-expected price as they did in last two months.
The source usually sells 40-50t of antimony trioxide in the spot market. The most recent deal of 5 tons was concluded at around RMB36,000/t (USD5,271/t) d.d.p. at the beginning of this week.