Market participants have kept a close eye on the softening European selenium price over the summer for clues on how the market will perform from September when activity usually starts to pick up.
Fastmarkets assessed the price of selenium in-whs Rotterdam at $7.50-9.50 per lb on Friday August 30, unchanged from the previous assessment but still under pressure with several offers pending at the low end of the range. The price had tumbled in from $8.15-9.85 per lb on August 2. Some sellers are rapidly lowering their spot offers for selenium metal in anticipation of potential softer prices in the near term and are eager to destock. "If I can get rid of material, I will," a European trader said. "There are plenty of stocks around and no one wants to buy since people are waiting for further drops... the market hasn't reached a bottom yet," he added. "The market will continue to move down and we will see prices below $7 per tonne," a minor metals producer anticipated. "I am not positive about the rest of 2019 especially because selenium dioxide has been...