ANTIMONY

Antimony is a lustrous silvery-white material. Although it is usually described as a metal, it possesses mixed metallic and nonmetallic characteristics, and is more properly described as a semimetal or metalloid. Among the elements found in the Earth’s crust, antimony ranks 63rd in abundance. At an average concentration of 0.20 g/t, it is less abundant than tin, arsenic or the rare earths but more abundant than bismuth, mercury or silver. Antimony tends to concentrate in sulfide ores along with copper, lead and silver. It occurs sparingly as the free metal, usually in association with arsenic, bismuth or silver. In 2022, no marketable antimony was mined in the United States. A mine in Nevada that had extracted about 800 t of stibnite ore from 2013 through 2014 was placed on care-and-maintenance status in 2015 and had no reported production in 2022. Primary antimony metal and oxide were produced by one company in Montana using imported feedstock. Secondary antimony production was derived mostly from antimonial lead recovered from spent lead-acid batteries. The estimated value of secondary antimony produced in 2022 was about $60 million. China continued to be the leading global antimony producer in 2022 and accounted for 55 percent of global mine production. The supply of antimony raw materials and downstream production of antimony products was constrained in 2022 as a result of various temporary mine shutdowns to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Consumption and end uses In 2022, apparent consumption of antimony in the United States was estimated to be 27 kt, 5 percent less than that in 2021. Recycling supplied about 15 percent of estimated domestic consumption, and the remainder came mostly from imports. In the United States, the leading uses of antimony were as follows: flame retardants, 40 percent; metal products, including antimonial lead and ammunition, 36 percent; and nonmetal products, including ceramics and glass and rubber products, 24 percent. Imports and exports The United States was highly reliant on imports of unwrought antimony metal and antimony trioxide to meet its domestic consumption needs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022, imports for consumption of unwrought antimony were 8.3 kt, 11 percent more than those in 2021. Imports of antimony trioxide were 16.9 kt, 11 percent less than those in 2021. The imported unwrought antimony was principally sourced from China (29 percent), the United Kingdom (20 percent), India (14 percent) and Oman (12 percent. The imported antimony trioxide was principally sourced from China (75 percent) and Belgium (12 percent). The United States exported 1.8 kt of unwrought antimony metal in 2022, almost double from that in 2021. The United States exported 2.4 kt of antimony trioxide in 2022, a 59 percent increase from those in 2021. The unwrought antimony was principally exported to Canada (50 percent) and Mexico (31 percent). The antimony trioxide was principally exported to Japan (38 percent), Mexico (12 percent), Canada (10 percent) and Turkey (10 percent). Prices The antimony price reached a high of $7.03/lb in March 2022. The estimated annual average price was $6.30/lb in 2022, compared with the annual average price of $5.31/lb in 2021. World resources U.S. resources of antimony are mainly in Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Nevada. Principal identified world resources are in Australia, Bolivia, Burma, China, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan and Turkey. Additional antimony resources may occur in Mississippi Valley-type lead deposits in the Eastern United States. Trends and outlook Global consumption of antimony was expected to remain unchanged. Although electric cars will continue to have small lead-acid batteries, consumption of antimony by the lead-acid battery industry was expected to decrease as electric-vehicle market share increases in the future. This decrease would be more than offset, as the consumption of antimony for flame retardants was expected to grow. References are available from the author.

ANTIMONY

Authored by:
Kateryna Klochko

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