European antimony trioxide market receives some interests

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 27 Nov 08 – As some people are leaving office in the middle of December for winter holiday, the European antimony trioxide market sees some activities.
A trader source disclosed to Asian Metal that they closed a deal of 99.5%min non-brand named antimony trioxide at USD4,500/t CIF European port. And according to him, 99.65%min standard grade two antimony ingot is offered to him at USD5,200/t CIF Rotterdam. Antimony trioxide price is normally about 82-85% of the metal price, so the source holds that USD4,500/t is a reasonable price.
Prior to this deal, the source had not concluded any deal for several weeks, so he thinks there may have some interest in the market before European leaves for Christmas holiday. Due to the weak economy, most European manufacturers will have longer holidays than they normally do, so this may be the last purchase for them this year.
Another European trader also received inquiries of small volume for next January delivery. He received offers from China in the range of USD4,500-4,700/t CIF Rotterdam depending on different qualities and brand names. "Price fall fast in this month because the market remained quiet for very long time," said the trader and he takes that there is not much pressure on antimony market as other commodities because the supply of raw material, antimony concentrate, is still tight in China.
"Compare to other metals, antimony price was relatively stable in October," said the source, and he thinks we are seeing close to the end of the falling price as there are some buying activities, although inquiries are in small volume. He expects the antimony trioxide price would fall by another USD200/t before it rebounds.