Mineral markets' boom and bust over says report...Mineral markets' boom and bust over
says report
Decades of market instability for the
main minerals and metals produced by China appear to be
finally over, says a new report. Boom and bust manipulation
of markets and prices through alternate dumping of supplies
and withdrawal from the market of such commodities as
tungsten, tin and antimony had hit hard at mine output and
development in competing countries.
The new report from market analysts Roskill, notes that the
extent to which it had ravaged China's own mineral resources
through over-exploitation, high-grading, damage to mine workings
and loss of life was apparently only recently recognised by
Chinese authorities.
The Economics of Antimony (12th Edition, 2007) explains that the widespread mine shutdowns and investigations that followed led to wide-ranging policy reforms aimed at resource conservation, orderly development, mine safety, environmental protection and value-added further processing, all controlled by quotas and licensing of mining, smelting and exporting. As with everything the Chinese do in the antimony industry, the changes had worldwide effect. Prices rose from the 40-year low of less than US$1,000/t in August 2001, to the US$5,300 to US$5,400/t level as of mid-2007.
Moreover, a number of factors not present during past buoyant price periods indicate that the recovery will endure.
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