U.S. antimony trioxide market rises further

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 29 Feb 08 – Because there is little antimony trioxide shipped from China to America in February due to the bad weather and Chinese holiday, American market participants see higher prices.
A Chinese representative in U.S. disclosed that he is selling 99.5%min antimony trioxide at close to USD2.60/lb d.d.p. and demand is strong. "Not only my regular buyers asking for material, the consumers of
Hsikwangshan are also seeking material from us because Hsikwangshan had been out of production for almost a month, and it could not fulfill the contracts signed before."
He disclosed that the offers from China are at around USD5,800/t CIF Baltimore, and the offers two weeks ago were USD5,400-5,500/t. However, the source believes price will start to drop in the middle or the end of March when new material arrives U.S.
A U.S. trader also sees a rising market of antimony trioxide, that he increased his offer from USD2.40/lb to currently USD2.50/lb d.d.p. and the demand is regular from his customers. “Of course, the buyers are not
happy when they see the higher prices, but they have to buy to keep the productions,” said the trader holding that price would keep at high level for a few weeks.
He learned from his supplier that the Chinese production in Hunan area had almost stopped and transportation was almost impossible during the snowstorm and holiday in China. “I heard Hsikwangshan lost up to 2,000t production to the snowstorm during the time,” disclosed by the trader and think Hsikwangshan plays a major role in world antimony trioxide market as it is the biggest producer worldwide.