Tantalum concentrate prices fell in the week to Friday September 17, due to reduced prompt demand, which has triggered intense competition among suppliers to secure sales, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets' price assessment for
tantalite, basis 25% min Ta2O5, cif China was $83-88 per lb. per lb on Friday, down by 5% from a week earlier, when the price stood at $88-92 per lb.
The price has been slightly weakening since August 27, but the latest drop has consolidated the downtrend, with some consumers retreated from the market completely.
"The leading buyers from Europe and United States are out [of the market]," a producer source told Fastmarkets. "They are covered and there is no panic buying like before; now, there is a sense of a panic [to sell], so the consumers that are left have the upper hand."
During...