Antimony trioxide market may stay stable in China

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 12 Jun 08 – Antimony trioxide market may stay stable though the price of raw materials increases continuously, because suppliers do not want to lower their price much and buyers would not like to accept high quotations, close sources believe.
A Hunan-based smelter with a production capacity of around 1,000 tons per annum concluded a deal of antimony trioxide 99.5%min at RMB37,600/t (USD5,449/t) ex works early this week and a deal of antimony trioxide 99.8%min at around RMB37,800-38,000/t (USD5,478-5,507/t) ex works.
The source said the price of antimony trioxide has been stable for about two weeks. Buyers send inquiries but they purchase less each time than in April and early May. The market seems to drop on the basis of few spot deals and the coming summer vacation. However, the source believes that it is hard to say whether the market may drop as usual in July and August or stay stable.
He explained that the price of raw materials has been increasing since the beginning of the year and the price of coal that is used in producing the material as fuels has been increased by 20-30%. Even though because of the low demand some suppliers may lower their quotations to release some material in order to maintain a normal operation, as the production cost increases continuously, the market may at least stay stable or slide down slightly.
A Hunan-based exporter concluded a deal of antimony trioxide 99.5%min at RMB37,500-37,700/t (USD5,435-5,464/t) ex works early this week and a deal of antimony trioxide 99.8%min at RMB37,700- 38,000/t (USD5,464-5,507/t) ex works last week. They quote USD5,600-5,700/t CIF Guangdong for antimony trioxide 99.5%min, while they heard that some exporters have lowered their quotations for antimony trioxide 99.5%min to USD5,550/t CIF Guangdong early this week.
“The export market has showed some signs of decreasing, but it may not decrease greatly, because suppliers will not lower their quotations significantly mainly due to the high production cost and the willingness to release the material. For the same reason, I believe the domestic market may not drop greatly too.”