Some Chinese germanium producers have slowed or even halted their output in their efforts to avoid more severe losses after the price of the metal sank lower than was expected in the first quarter of the year, sources have told Fastmarkets.
A Kunming-based germanium producer had plans to suspend production at one plant for half of this year, starting from May, a China-based market source said.This move was interpreted by other market sources as an attempt to avoid more severe losses. This particular suspension of production was likely to reduce the supply of germanium metal by around 6 tonnes, they added.The price for germanium in China in the first quarter disappointed market participants, which expected to see a significant increase after the week-long Chinese lunar new year break on February 4-10. This was based on a good outlook for demand from downstream sectors such as fiber optics, photovoltaic systems and...