The price for ammonium paratugnstate (APT) in Europe moved lower in the week ended Friday August 23, weighed down by bearish sentiment ahead of the late-August auction for the entire antimony stock held in the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange. Meanwhile, the Chinese APT export price was stable amid market uncertainty.
Tungsten concentrate prices again stable amid inactivity
Ferro-tungsten market in Europe flatlines in thin trading
European APT prices slide; Chinese APT prices under pressure
Fastmarkets assessed the price for tungsten APT 88.5% WO3 min Europe, cif Rotterdam duty-free, at $195-205 per metric tonne unit (mtu) on August 23, down by 2.4% from a week earlier. The price is now at its lowest level since mid-February 2017, when the assessment last stood at $195-205 per mtu.
Prices continued to come under pressure as buyers considered lower offer prices for material to be shipped to Rotterdam from China while facing no immediate requirement for prompt units.
“Nobody really needs anything. Customers are saying they don’t need extra,” a consumer source said, and others agreed that buyers were adequately covered by long-term contracts.
Market participants also were waiting for news of whether Fanya’s tungsten stocks will be auctioned, which could…