The Niche commodity battlefield
New York Times headlines scream about “the climb of antimony”, an overnight 2.3x increase in prices. Antimony is a mineral used in semiconductor applications like infrared cameras, night vision goggles and LiDAR — and the price is only going up. Is this an inevitable impact of the mineral trade war with China? Not quite: this article is from 1915, just after the beginning of the first World War.
Today’s prices have actually spiked 4x.
Supplies of commodities have always been a geopolitical battleground. The search for commodities like gold and aluminum forged the story of most of history’s exploration, colonization, and wars. Today, the semiconductor industry — which uses an impressive list of rare earth minerals — manufactures and consumes a longer and longer tail of commodities critical to the global economy and national security than ever before. The battle for secure commodity supply is getting more and more niche.
China’s latest tariff announcement restricting exports of antimony from Sept. 15 is pushing antimony prices to record highs and driving stockpiling across the market. Today, 63% of the world’s supply of antimony is produced in China.
Antimony prices are just one factor in the volatility of semiconductor prices. Are you sure you’re getting the right rate? We can help! Learn more at mobiusmaterials.com.
