European antimony market under pressure

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 12 Feb 08 – Owing to the just ending Chinese New Year holiday that had put suppliers out of the market, plus the massive snow in many parts of China in the last few weeks, the European market participants are not getting material from China, which has played well to European traders who have material in Rotterdam and have raised price to above USD6,000/t in warehouse Rotterdam; however, the consumers are reluctant to buy at high prices.
A European trader disclosed that antimony market is a little quiet this week because the consumers are scared away by the high prices.4 According to him, the highest offer of 99.65%min standard grade two antimony ingot is USD6,300/t in warehouse Rotterdam.
He wanted to replace some stock at the end of last week, but all the offers he received were higher than
USD6,100/t for standard grade two antimony ingot, and there is almost no demand from consumers.P "I received two inquiries in the middle of last week, but they didn't reply to me after I made offers to them at
USD6,200/t in warehouse Rotterdam," the source revealed.
Commenting on the availability of antimony ingot, the trader believes there is very little material in Europe, but it is difficult to foresee if the price would continue to rise because the consumers are reluctant to buy.
Another trader confirmed few inquiries in the market because of high prices.6 He disclosed that mainstream price for 99.65%min standard grade antimony ingot is in the range of USD6,000-6,200/t in warehouse
Rotterdam, and the low bismuth material is about USD100/t more expensive.W “The consumers are very cautious when the price is high,” said the source who had concluded a batch of standard grade two antimony ingot at USD5,900/t in warehouse Rotterdam earlier last week.”
The trader takes that the next two weeks would be critical because the consumers are waiting for the Chinese suppliers to come back to market.J “Once they know that the Chinese suppliers also have no material in Rotterdam, there might be panic and price could go up a little higher again,” the source expected.