Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher

Trioxide trials and tribulations

February 18, 2010 - 00:00 GMT

KEYWORDS: antimony , antimony trioxide , SBO3 , construction , flame retardant , glass , enamels , Twinkling Star , Mandalay

Chinese dominance reigns supreme in antimony trioxide as export prices spike in January. However, the market has started to turn since Twinkling Star restarted its disaster-struck mine.

Added to this mix are new project announcements elsewhere in the world, while the Chinese government has stated its intent to further control domestic resources.

China is by far the largest producer and exporter of antimony trioxide, dominating the marketplace. In 2009, the USGS estimates that Chinese production of antimony was 170,000 tonnes, representing 91% of world production.

Other significant producers include Bolivia, Russia, South Africa, and Tajikistan, with the largest being Bolivia with an estimated output of 4,500 tpa in 2009.

Within China, the Hsikwangshan Twinkling Star Antimony Co. Ltd is the largest producer, with a capacity of 55,000 tpa of ore, and some 40,000 tpa of antimony products. It alone represents around 30% of all the ore mined in China.

At the end of last October, production from one of its underground mines in Hunan Province was suspended following...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

Please log in using your online subscriber details.
Your username will be your registered email address with Metal Bulletin.

If you aren't a subscriber yet, feel free to take a seven day free trial, or subscribe using the instructions below.

A standard subscription include one year's worth of news and prices. You can also upgrade to the full archive and benefit from more than 13 years of intelligence. Start your subscription today.

Free trial

Taking a free trial will give you open access to Metal Bulletin online news, prices, archived content and email alert service for the next seven days. Start your free trial today.

Free trial

Already have an account?

Ores & Alloys

Feb 4, 2012 02:20 US Commerce Dept. backs Evraz in ferrovanadium probe
Feb 3, 2012 23:58 US molybdenum prices continue to rally
Feb 3, 2012 23:54 US silicomanganese prices up on supply tightness
Feb 3, 2012 23:45 US ferrosilicon up as stainless mills ‘running hot’
Feb 3, 2012 15:49 MB NON-FERROUS PRICE CHANGES

Minor & Precious Metals

Feb 6, 2012 03:07 Jinchuan Group targets higher nickel, cobalt output in 2012
Feb 3, 2012 15:49 MB NON-FERROUS PRICE CHANGES
Feb 3, 2012 09:08 Minor metals market awaits fallout from Guangxi pollution scandal
Feb 3, 2012 08:51 Bismuth prices rise slightly in China as buyers return
Feb 3, 2012 06:23 Chinese steel mills cut manganese alloys prices for February

Comment & analysis

COMMENT: Glenstrata still has to break the mould

The news that Glencore and Xstrata are in merger talks would only come as a surprise to someone living under a rock, and only then if said rock did not contain any valuable minerals. But now that talks of a tie-up of the world’s largest metals trader and its fourth largest miner have finally moved into the boardroom, hypothetical questions have become real, and the answers are far from certain.
APEX FULL YEAR 2011: Base metal forecasts: astounding accuracy

Astounding upon astounding: that is how the 2011 leaderboard for Apex, the Metal Bulletin service that tracks the performance of over twenty top base metal price forecasters, appears when you consider it coldly.
Raising fees could imperil LME date structure: a broker writes

The London Metal Exchange plans to introduce a fee for client trades from March. The proposal has aroused some opposition, and prompted one broker to write to Metal Bulletin, requesting anonymity. Here he outlines his concerns. How justified are they? Email aharrison@metalbulletin.com, or tweet @aharrison_mb