APT market slow in China
2006-11-08 09:21:07 【Print】
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 8 Nov 06 – Participants reported that China’s APT market remains slow with few enquiries.
“APT prices remain at around RMB165,000/t [USD236/mtu] d.p. in China, but there are few deals,” said a source from a smelter in Hunan, with an output of 1,200tpy.
According to the source, smelters are also reluctant to make deals due to the high cost of tungsten concentrate 65%, which is at around RMB108,000/t (USD210/mtu) d.p. currently. “We maintain the APT production normally, consumed the tungsten concentrate 65% purchased early October at below RMB105,000/t [USD204/mtu] d.p.”
The source believes that APT prices might return to around RMB163,000/t (USD233/mtu) d.p. in the coming weeks due to the weak demand.
A source from a smelter in North China told Asian Metal that the smelter holds its APT prices at RMB165,000-167,000/t (USD236-239/mtu) d.p. with few enquires received. “We could not reduce the APT price as we purchased the tungsten concentrate 65% at RMB107,000/t [USD208/mtu] d.p., and now we have to consume our APT to produce tungsten carbide powder and tungsten powder, which are a little better to sale.”
The source disclosed that the tungsten carbide powder market is stable and the price of medium granular tungsten carbide powder is in a range of RMB255-260/kg (USD32.3-32.9/kg) d.p.
