China's imports of other antimony ores and concentrates surged significantly by 185.8% MoM in April [reported by SMM]

On May 21, according to SMM, customs data showed that China's imports of other antimony ores and concentrates reached 4,238.98 mt in April 2025, a significant increase of 185.8% MoM from the 1,483.017 mt imported in March. Market participants indicated that due to the recent high-level fluctuations in antimony market prices and tight supply of antimony raw materials, there was a sharp decline in antimony ore imports in March. Coupled with the reluctance of domestic mines to sell, large factories in some antimony-producing regions were operating with relatively low raw material inventory levels. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that manufacturers have recently intensified their search for imported ore, leading to a substantial increase in April's imports of antimony ores and concentrates, bringing them back to the levels seen in January-February.