Few deals concluded in antimony ingot market

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 10 Apr 08 - Antimony ingot market keeps quiet due to the weak demand. Producers reported that few consumers have interest in buying.
A Hunan-based producer reported that they sold a small quantity of standard grade-two antimony ingot at around RMB36,200/t (USD5,171/t) VAT excluded, unchanged compared to last week. According to the source, the market demand keeps weak and few inquiries have been received during the past three weeks.
Despite the thin trading, the source has no intention of lowering offers further, arguing that antimony ingot producers are running on tight margin due to high-held price of raw material. With an output of around 100- 200tpm, the smelter has 50-60t of material in stock.
A Guangdong-based trader also reported that the antimony ingot market has been dull in the past two weeks as antimony trioxide producers are not in a hurry to purchase. "As antimony trioxide market is also bearish, antimony trioxide producers are not active in buying antimony ingot," said the source.
The source received offers of RMB39,200-39,500/t (USD5,600-5,643/t) ex works for grade-two antimony ingot but has no plan to buy at the moment. Meanwhile, the source confirmed that the material is changing hands at RMB36,100-36,300/t (USD5,157-5,186/t) VAT excluded in Lengshuijiang, Hunan Province, and the price may be RMB200-300/t (USD29-43/t) higher for grade-one and grade-zero materials.