Chinese antimony market climbs up slightly

The price of antimony ingot climbs up slightly with most of the deals concluded at around RMB42,000/t ex works early this week. However, suppliers still receive few inquiries from domestic buyers.

A Jiangxi-based smelter with a monthly production capacity of around 100 tons concluded around 20 tons of regular grade-two antimony ingot at RMB42,000/t ex works last week and another 20 tons at RMB41,500-42,000/t two weeks ago.

The source puts the mainstream price of regular grade-two antimony ingot at RMB42,000-RMB42,500/t early this week, up from RMB41,500-42,000/t last week. "The price seems to go up slightly this week, while we still receive few inquiries currently. We are not sure to what extent it will increase on a current market situation."

A South China-based trader concluded a small-volume deal at the price a little bit higher than RMB42,000/t last week. "Even though the price continues to go up, inquiries from buyers remain few," said the source.

Another South China-based smelter with a monthly production capacity of around 200 tons has not concluded any deals for about two weeks due to low inquiries from buyers. However, he puts the mainstream price of regular grade-two antimony ingot at RMB42,000-42,500/t. "Most of the deals were concluded at around RMB42,000/t and quotations from suppliers have already reached RMB42,300-42,500/t last week."