Beijing, 16 December (Argus)

China’s antimony concentrate production fell in October, as smaller mines stopped production and large-scale metal smelters lowered output because of lower spot prices and limited ore availability.

Domestic output fell by 41.86pc from a year earlier to 5,000t of metal content in October.

Production during January-October fell by 31pc to 50,100t from 72,600t a year earlier.

The fall in concentrate production and narrower profit margins at smelters prevented metal prices from dropping further since September. Particularly after China Minmetals, on 31 August bought 18,661t of antimony metal stocks from the bankrupt Fanya Metal Exchange. Weaker consumer demand from the downstream flame retardant industry outweighed the lower output to push prices down since mid-November.

Prices for 99.65pc metal fell to 37,000-38,000 yuan/t ($5,289-5,433/t) on 10 October amid a lack of demand, with producers eager to sell off stocks before the end of the year for accounting purposes, providing further downside potential in prices this week.

For More Information on Antimony Products 

St. Louis Group offers a variety of antimony products that serve a variety of needs. For more information on our antimony products please visit our Flame Retardants page, or you can always give us a call here at our office by visiting our Contact Us page.

This article was retrieved from Argus Metals