SHANGHAI, Sep 5 (SMM) - According to SMM survey, China antimony ingot (including antimony ingot, converted crude antimony, cathode antimony, etc.) output in August 2022 was 5,098 mt, falling steeply MoM by 30.89%.
On the whole, the high prices of raw materials and the shortage of resources are still among the main causes that prompted domestic refined antimony smelters to stop or reduce the production to a certain extent. Recently, domestic demand for antimony products, especially antimony oxide, has been quite sluggish, and the export orders have also shrunk significantly. The difficulty in selling antimony oxide in turn affected the consumption of refined antimony by antimony oxide manufacturers, suppressing the production of some refined antimony smelters, hence the production enthusiasm of antimony ingot manufacturers was greatly contained.
Judging from the production situation of manufacturers in August, those who reduced or significantly reduced the output or fully suspended the production have been covered by SMM research.
Among the 33 survey respondents, 13 manufacturers stopped the production in August, down by 1 from July; 15 reduced their production, up by 2 MoM; and 5 maintained normal production. For example, Shanxing Antimony Co., one of the largest antimony producers in China, stopped antimony production again on July 25, 2022. The shutdown involved all blast furnaces and antimony white furnaces. Therefore, its production in August was reduced to zero, and the resumption time has not yet been determined. With regard to other smelters who reduced the production in August, the output of more than half of the smelters decreased compared with July, accounting for the MoM drop of 30.89%.
SMM predicts that the supply and demand of the domestic antimony market in September will not be overturned under the current overall economic situation, and the sluggish demand is more than likely to extend. However, considering that the current operating rates of smelters have dropped to a low level, the national antimony ingot production in September may not change much compared with August, but the possibility of continued decline cannot be ruled out.
Notes: SMM starts to disclose the output of antimony ingots (including antimony ingots, converted crude antimony, cathode antimony, etc.) since May 2022. Thanks to high coverage of the antimony industry, SMM has successfully investigated a total of 33 antimony ingot manufacturers, which are located in 8 provinces across the country, with a total capacity of nearly 20,000 mt and a total capacity coverage rate of over 99%.
