More than 25,000 tonnes of lead-acid battery material antimony has been stopped from leaving Hong Kong by its customs department.
The suspected antimony ingots were found last month in a 40-foot outbound container in the city’s Customs Cargo Examination Compound. Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department didn’t give a reason for the seizure in its announcement on 2 April.
The material is used as an alloying agent with lead in lead-acid batteries due to its ability to increase the strength, corrosion resistance and castability of battery grids.
In December, China banned the export of the material – along with gallium, germanium, and other key high-tech materials – to the US. This was in reply to the US’ export controls on Chinese technology firms.
China exported about 3.9-million kilograms of wrought and unwrought antimony last year. However, the only recent export, according to Chinese customs data, is a 20,000kg shipment to Japan in January, reported news outlet Reuters.
According to data from the United States Geological Survey, the global antimony-ore reserves in 2023 were around 2.17 million tons. Of which, China’s antimony ore production accounted for 48% of the world’s production.
China has been the world’s largest producer and exporter of antimony for a number of years.
In 2023, the United States was the largest export destination for China’s antimony resource, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com. The market research firm reported that China exported 50,889 tons of antimony resources in 2023.
China, Russia, Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Australia and Turkey control around 90% of the world’s antimony reserves.
Demand for antimony is expected to reach more than $3.5 billion by 2030 from an estimated $2.5 billion last year, reported market research providers Industry Experts.
