Trioxide grade antimony prices in Europe continued to move up last week amid tightening availability, while grade II remained unchanged with little spot business done; in China prices also climbed amid concerns of production disruptions with environmental inspections team set to visit Hunan province.
Antimony trioxide prices, in-warehouse Rotterdam edged up to $8,100-8,400 per tonne on Friday May 18 from the mid-week assessment of $8,050-8,350 per tonne. Meanwhile, Metal Bulletin assessed the MMTA standard grade II antimony, in-warehouse Rotterdam price at $8,000-8,250 per tonne, unchanged from the mid-week assessment. "There's a big arbitrage between standard and trioxide grade suddenly as trioxide guys have no stock and are buying," a trader in Europe said. As well, tight raw material supply...