We need to produce the Antimony metal Ingots ! Ron could reach...

We need to produce the Antimony metal Ingots !
Ron could reach out to another offtaker Voyager Group - Swiss trader

Refineries boost imports from alternate suppliers

European refineries of antimony trioxide have increased supply from Tajikistan, Vietnam and Myanmar to diversify from the Chinese feed, while India increased antimony ingot supplies to the United States, he said.

Another upsurge in antimony prices will reinforce the western world’s reliance on China for critical minerals, which also include rare earths, gallium and germanium, exports of which are also restricted since last year.

In those cases, exports quickly flatlined after export licence requirements were introduced, before rising again, a trend which could be seen with antimony exporters now needing to apply for a licence, CRU’s Soni said.

Other major producers of antimony include Myanmar, which accounted for 4,600 tons last year, Turkey for 6,000 tons and Tajikstan for 21,000 tons, according to USGS.

“The prospects of a small but antimony-rich country, Tajikistan, look good now,” Alexey Kabanov, CEO at Swiss-based trading firm Voyager Group, said.

The tight market conditions are partly because of disruptions in supply from Russia due to sanctions imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and Russia’s lower domestic production. Russia produced 4,300 tons in 2023, data from USGS showed.

“There is no pipeline of supply to turn on,” Christopher Ecclestone, a principal and mining strategist at Hallgarten & Company in London, said, adding that prices could easily climb above $30,000 this year.