Zirconium Market Report November 2012

The market remained sluggish in November with an expectation of a slump on price, consequently, there was very few deals concluded in the market. The price dived to below USD1,500/t for zircon sand 65.Asian Metal Copyright Followed the zircon sand market, Indonesian zircon sand market also turned very low, and most suppliers for Indonesian zircon sand in China expressed that they would suffer RMB3,000-4,000t loss in view of the high export tax on zircon sand imported from Indonesia and low price of USD1,500t for the material in Chinese market.Asian Metal Copyright5%min after RBM tender on November 28. Followed the zircon sand market, Indonesian zircon sand market also turned very low, and most suppliers for Indonesian zircon sand in China expressed that they would suffer RMB3,000-4,000/t loss in view of the high export tax on zircon sand imported from Indonesia and low price of USD1,500/t for the material in Chinese market.

Both influenced by the weakening downstream demand and the slumping zircon sand price, zirconium silicate and zirconium oxychloride markets became stagnant with most processors suspending production. The mainstream prices decreased to RMB13,000-14,000/t from 16,500-17,000/t late October for zirconium silicate 64.Asian Metal Copyright5%min.Asian Metal Copyright5%min. And the price dropped to RMB12,000-13,000/t from 13,500-14,000/t for zirconium oxychloride 36%min.