Hunan antimony smelters halt on environmental concern

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 3 Jul 07 – With the relevant authority up to its responsibility, almost all antimony ingot and trioxide smelters in Hunan province, the most important antimony production base in China, especially along Zijiang River, are being forced to stop production as pollutants discharge exceeds the tolerable level. Many major smelters, including Hsikwangshan, Zhaizixi, Jiutong have consequently been affected.
Senior officials from Hsikwangshan and Zhazixi, the major antimony trioxide and ingot producers in China, confirmed to Asian Metal that their smelters were asked to halt production late last week until functional anti-pollution facilities are put in place. However, an official from Zhaizixi rationalized it thus: “We usually carry out equipment maintenance in summer, so the closure is just within our plan.”
“All smelters along Zijiang River were forced to shut down due to a toxic spill from those smelters into the river,” said a Yiyang-based antimony ingot producer, whose capacity is 200tpm. No details are confirmed when those smelters can resume production. “But no smelter will be allowed to restart until they pass the environmental assessment currently being conducted,” the source added.
The source revealed that many antimony ingot and trioxide producers have stocks on hand due to the sluggish market. The closures of smelters might prevent the price of antimony products from dipping further. In fact, smelters in Lengshuijiang, one of the most important producing areas in Hunan province, begin offering a higher price of around RMB35,000/t (USD4,599/t) VAT excluded for antimony ingot against RMB34,300-34,500/t (USD4,507-4,534/t) VAT excluded seen last week. Those major smelters, who sold antimony ingot at RMB37,200-37,500/t (USD4,888-4,928/t) ex works, suspended quoting and are waiting for clearer market trend.
Meanwhile, some consumers have opined that the market is unlikely to rise much due to the continuously weak demand. “Not only foreign buyers have little interests to purchase due to the coming summer break, but also Chinese consumers are also inactive in buying. Furthermore, smelters in Guangxi and Guizhou are still in normal operation. Therefore, it is hard for antimony products price to rise by a large scale,” said a Guangdong-based consumer of antimony ingot.