European antimony market remains sluggish

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 28 Feb 08 – Still refusing to surrender to the high offers from China, European buyers hold that antimony prices will drop soon because they are not buying.V Dealer sources also believe price may drop in the near future as the buyers stop sending out enquiries.
A European trader disclosed that he just received an offer of 60-80t 99.65% low bismuth antimony ingot from a Chinese supplier at USD5,900/t CIF Rotterdam for prompt shipment. The material in warehouse Rotterdam is more expensive, and offered at USD6,200/t to him. He had not received inquiries of large volumes in the last three weeks.
“The two biggest buyers had stopped buying in Europe since the Chinese New Year, and they probably are still getting some material from long-term contracts. They know if they come to market, the price would definitely be much higher,” said the trader and thinks the price will start to fall in the coming days.
However, he also expects more activities from the consumers by the end of this week or next week because they need to buy for second quarter production.
An official from a consumer told Asian Metal that the offers he received from Chinese suppliers are slightly above USD6,000/t for Rotterdam warehouse material, and USD5,800-5,900/t CIF European ports for
99.65%min standard grade two antimony ingot.2 He refused to accept the offered prices and claimed that he has enough stock to wait until price drops back to the range of USD5,500/t in warehouse Rotterdam.
Asianmetal(English) http://www.asianmetal.com YQUB “I’m not a big buyer, so I purchase for at least two or three months usage every time I come to market,” said the official.6 He holds that antimony price will not hold at current high price for long. “When Chinese suppliers cannot sell their material, they will have to lower the price again.”