Asian Metal meets Campine during LME week

On the 8th of October Scott Yarham, Minor Metals Analyst met with Frederick Dockx, the Commercial Representative for Campine.

Campine, based in Belgium, is a company in the field of antimony oxide production, plastic compounds and recycled lead. The company is one of the leading European antimony trioxide producers and suppliers. The Antimony Business Unit focuses on production of antimony oxides as synergists in the flame retardancy of plastics and as catalysts in PET production. Antimony transforms non-ferrous metal sources into products designed to improve the performance of consumer and industrial goods in the application areas of flame retardancy, pigments and catalyst.

Frederick explained to Scott that the current topics being mostly discussed during the LME week was the procurement witnessed earlier this year by a large Asian trioxide producer. Scott and Frederick both confirmed that the estimated number of tonnes procured was in the region of 16,000 tonnes, however Frederick emphasized that this is only an estimate as the real number has not been confirmed. The discussion turned to the possibility of the material being stored in the State’s reserve therefore being removed from the market completely. He expressed concern that if the material was not strategically stockpiled, there would be the risk of the material being released at some point and crashing the market.

The conversation moved on to what Frederick’s thoughts were on the current price. He explained that the Asian trioxide producer is certainly making sure that the price remains firm for the time being however questions how sustainable this is moving forward. Frederick explained that demand was still very weak and he is not expecting anything dramatic to occur before the end of Q4 therefore wonders how they will manage to prop up the metal prices for that amount of time. He explained that there is a lack of understanding in the market that cheaper replacement have eliminated the need for the material for good in certain applications and reduced it in others heavily.

Frederick thanked Scott for the information sharing conversations over the last few months. He explained explained that were both informative and helpful to their business. He expressed that he was very pleased with the quality and frequency of our market news articles and the accuracy of our pricing information.