Antimony Prices at Record Highs: Raw Material Shortages And PV Demand Drive Supply-demand Imbalance

Antimony prices soared to a 12-year high! Raw material shortage leads to market supply-demand imbalance, can the high boom last?

Recently, antimony prices continue to climb, 1 # antimony average price in January 19 reached 88,300 yuan / ton, up nearly 10% from the end of last year, hitting the highest level in nearly 12 years. This rising trend mainly stems from the tight supply of upstream raw materials, resulting in an imbalance between supply and demand in the entire industrial chain.

Antimony is an important industrial raw material, widely used in military, aerospace, flame retardant and photovoltaic fields. However, constrained by mine safety and other factors, domestic antimony mining volume has basically stabilized in recent years, unable to meet downstream demand. And imported mines are also facing uncertainty, it is difficult to make up for the gap between domestic supply and demand.

Hunan Gold, Huayu Mining, Huaxin Nonferrous and Xingye Yinxin A-share listed companies are the main domestic antimony mining enterprises, holding nearly a quarter of the antimony resources. However, constrained by factors such as policy restrictions and declining mine grades, these companies have limited room for growth in antimony production.

In addition, strong growth in the photovoltaic (PV) industry is driving demand for antimony. The new global PV installations are expected to reach 588 GW by 2025, with a three-year CAGR of 35%. However, large domestic antimony mines are facing declining grades after a long period of mining, making it difficult to meet downstream demand.

Despite the tight supply and demand, industry insiders are generally optimistic about antimony prices. They believe that the supply and demand gap will drive antimony prices to continue to rise against the backdrop that antimony is irreplaceable and difficult to recover.

However, there is a great uncertainty on the demand and policy side after the year, which may affect the antimony price movement. In addition, sodium pyroantimonate, as a clarifying agent for photovoltaic glass, although less sensitive to antimony prices, has also brought new growth points for antimony demand.

Overall, although the antimony price soared to the highest point in 12 years, but the market supply-demand imbalance still exists, whether the high prosperity can be sustained remains to be seen.

The replacement agent of antimony trioxide developed by Yinsu Flame Retardant Company, PVC-T series, can not only replace antimony trioxide efficiently and completely, but also save the cost of flame retardant, while maintaining excellent performance. Welcome to inquire more product details!