How long can antimony price hold up high?
2005-10-14 10:35:16 【Print】
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 14 Oct 05 – Ever since the middle of September, European antimony market is getting quieter with fewer deals being concluded, and prices also stabilizing in the range USD3,850-3,900/t. People cannot hold back from asking: how long will the antimony price stay high? And where the trend is going to?
An executive from a central European antimony trioxide smelter told Asian Metal that he still receive Chinese quotes as high as USD3,820-3,850/t CIF Rotterdam, and for the rest of the year, the executive believes the price will remain at this high.
Before this September, the smelter used to buy the raw material from Hong Kong and European market, but it changed the purchasing strategy and started to import directly from China. Many traders believe the sudden demand decrease in Europe is related to the action of this smelter.
A central European trader told Asian Metal that he believes many traders are holding material in hand waiting patiently for the price to rise again. However, he doubts if the price will rise as they expected. “The demand in Europe is not as large as people expected, because large consumers buy directly from China,” said the trader.
According to the trader, the price of antimony in warehouse Rotterdam is still at USD3,850-3,900/t, and he is offering at USD3,870/t, but deals had been made since earlier September.
