While tensions between China and the United States have eased amid a temporary 90-day truce, US minor metals importers are still sitting on heavy inventories after they increased imports ahead of a proposed 10% tariff that never appeared.
Suppliers moved large amounts of indium and other minor metals into the US due to their concerns about the US-Sino trade war, Fastmarkets MB reported in late August. Ultimately, indium, gallium and antimony were excluded from the final list of trade duties, but part of this stock is yet to be depleted."We have customers that bought before tariffs. That material would have been booked now [if indium had not been shipped in advance], but instead the market is frozen. There are no inquiries at all; I think we are done until next year," a US-based trader said. "Some traders wanted to be 10% ahead of the game. This is certainly one of the reasons why the market...