Abstract:
Antimony, as a strategic mineral resource, is extensively utilized in both traditional industries and strategic emerging industries, playing a crucial role in supporting high-tech industrial development. To investigate the evolution and competitive advantages of trade in various segments of the antimony resource industry chain, this paper selects trade data for key products at different stages of the antimony industry chain from 2011 to 2020. By analyzing trade value and industry concentration index, the study examines the evolution trends of global antimony products trade and evaluates the competitive positions of China and selected countries along the global antimony industry chain from three perspectives: oligopoly advantage, trade competitiveness, and trade channel structure. The research results indicate that: ① the scale of global antimony trade is fluctuating and declining, with antimony oxides and lead antimony alloys becoming the main forms of global antimony resource trade, and the position of antimony sulfide in antimony products trade is significantly declining. ② The competitive landscape of the global antimony market presents a phenomenon of oligopoly, with some countries having a profound impact on global antimony products trade based on their resource endowments or market advantages. ③ The list of oligopolistic members in each link of the industry chain varies greatly, and the top ranking of export oligopolistic countries for four typical products, namely antimony ore and concentrate, unprocessed antimony, antimony sulfide, and antimony oxide, is relatively stable. ④ The trade competitiveness of Chinese antimony ore and concentrates, as well as lead antimony alloys, lags far behind other countries. China has a relatively small advantage in the proportion of antimony sulfide exports and trade competition, lower than the three typical countries, but it has the advantage of diversified channels. However, China has a dominant and comparative advantage in the export trade of unprocessed antimony and antimony oxide, with a diversified export structure. It is worth noting that China’s competitive advantage in antimony oxide trade is continuously declining. On this basis, some policy recommendations are proposed to strengthen geological exploration of antimony resources, optimize the export structure of antimony products, and expand new export markets.