Manganese ore price will jump 310%

With global supply tight, BHP Billiton has been able to boost manganese ore prices by 310% to Japanese buyers for fiscal 2008, starting April 1.

Nippon Steel and Japanese leading ferroalloy maker, Nippon Denko, agreed to increase the manganese ore purchase price by 4.1 times.

This is the first price increases in three years for ore and will push up the ferroalloy price, according to Merrill Lynch analysts.

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China bismuth prices up on short supply

Prices of the medicinal minor metal bismuth rose by one-fourth in Shanghai in the last week due to short supplies after production was disrupted in provinces hit by freak ice and snow storms.

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China's antimony exports rise in January 2008

China exported 1,030 metric tons of unwrought antimony in January '08, up 325.5 percent compared to the same period last year, the General Administration of Customs said Friday.

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China issues 23,000 tonnes of rare earth export license

Chinese government issued around 23,000 tonnes of export license for rare earth as the first batch for 2008.

The total volume for the year could reduce to 36,000 tonnes in 2008 from 40,000 tonnes in 2007 when the country reduced the volume by 10% in recent years.

The country reduces the export by around 3% for tungsten and antimony and by 10% for tin.

– Japan Metal Bulletin

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With Tightened Supply The Prices of Chinese Antimony Ingot Go Up Generally

Owing  tightened supply  the prices of Antimony Metal continue to go up in China ,the current domestic sale prices have come to RMB42,000-43,000/Mt with the rising range of RMB2,500-3,000/Mt .The prices of Antimony Metal were about RMB39,500-40,000/Mt in China in the middle of Jan and before the heavy storm.But influenced by heavy storm and Chinese Spring Festival the domestic antimony supply are tightened and the prices rise accordingly.Now the basic selling quotations from antimony manufacturers are all at about the level of FOB USD5,900/Mt.The manufacturers who have antimony metal stock  rised their sale prices one after another.

Although the smelters and manufacturers are recovering their production gradually ,but the actual total output have not come to the normal standard of the same period  .It is predicted by insiders that everything will go well once the electric power completely recovers in March .Some companies have started up some antimony smelters but the others are all under stop production status .So far we do not know when the smelters will start production from stop production status. There are still some areas that have not been recovered  the elecric power ,so the manufacturers can not confirm when will come back to the normal production standard. On the other hand the export quotations in China have appeared  rising trend that have aroused "reject purchasing feeling" from oversea's buyers.

It is disclosed by one Beijing based trader that the current antimony export quotations have rised to CIF USD 6,250/Mt ,which is USD50/Mt higher than last week.News from one Hongkong based trader that the current quotations for 99.65% Antimony Metals are  CIF East and South Asia Port  USD 6,000/Mt ,but it was USD 5,700/Mt at the beginning of Feb,2008 ,and there was no customer to accept such price .Analysed by insiders that the rising speed for the current prices are very rapidly that make some customers do not have the proper mental preparation. So the customers with inquries can not catch up with the price rising speed .
Except the supply factors ,the RMB increase in value has been another reason.When the RMB benchmark price rised 1-2% the antimony prices will rise about USD 20-30/Mt to fatch up the loss to the manufacturers .As far as the future antimony market trend is concerned ,most of  the customers consider that the price can not drop to the level of USD 5000/Mt .

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Manganese price rising further

More consumers are coming to the market with inquiries and find higher prices of manganese flake. And sources reported the price keeps increasing from RMB23,800-24,100/t (USD3,324-3,366/t) ex works at the beginning of this week to RMB24,200-24,500/t (USD3,380-3,422/t) ex works yesterday, about RMB400/t (USD56/t) higher. Supply remains tight and most suppliers claimed it impossible for the supply back to normal before the middle of March.
The source believes the insufficient supply of raw materials is another factor embarrassing the smelters. The source has its own manganese mine and thus the supply of manganese ore is not a hindrance to its production but he complained it difficult to replenish sulphate in the market and predicted its price would go up.

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Chinese inflation rises to highest rate in 11 years

Food prices in China rose about 18 percent, pushing inflation there to the highest rate since 1996.
HONG KONG: Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in China last month, the largest increase in more than a decade.

The steep increase in prices, announced Tuesday by the Chinese government's National Bureau of Statistics, is the latest warning sign that China has been transformed from a moderating influence on global prices to a source of inflationary pressure.

Chinese exporters are trying to pass on their rising costs to overseas customers, which could contribute to inflation in the United States and Europe.

"Our company is faced with rising labor costs and raw material costs," said Michelle Yin, a sales manager for the Shanghai Yongqiu Compressor Company, which makes walk-in coolers and freezers and exports to the United States and Europe. "Depending on the margin we get from individual customers, we have been able to pass on all or part of the cost increase. For new customers, we typically have to set prices more aggressively to get their business.
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