Metal Information Center

Antimony prices creep higher in quiet market

November 12, 2007 – 8:30 am

Prices have crept up about $50 a tonne over the past week, but market participants said that trade was slow and the absence of Chinese suppliers had dampened the market. “Things are kind of hanging right now,” one trader said. “China is out of the market (due to the lunar New Year holiday), and that’s quieted down activity.”

Antimony gained about $300 in strong trading in December and early January, which traders attributed to Chinese companies increasing their presence in a tight market.

“There was a spurt of buying ahead of the move from $2,200 to $2,600 a tonne (late last year), but the market’s flattened out,” a trader said. Demand was expected to remain strong in the coming months, with the opportunity for further price increases, he added. “Right now, I don’t see the market flooded with metal. I don’t get a sense that there’s a lot of offers or that anyone is desperate to get material out of inventory.”

In Europe, antimony is trading in a range of $2,550 to $2,650 a tonne, according to AMMs sister publication, Metal Bulletin.