BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) - China will impose export

limits on antimony and related elements in the name of national

security, its commerce ministry said on Thursday, Beijing's

latest move to restrict shipments of critical minerals in which

it is the dominant supplier.

China accounted last year for 48% of global mined output of

antimony, a strategic metal used in military applications such

as ammunition, infrared missiles, nuclear weapons and night

vision goggles, as well as in batteries and photovoltaic

equipment.

The restrictions are being imposed "in order to safeguard

national security and interests, and fulfill international

obligations such as non-proliferation", the ministry said in a

statement.

At a regular weekly briefing on Thursday, the ministry said

the curbs were not directed at any specific country or region.

"It's a sign of the times," said Christopher Ecclestone, a

principal and mining strategist at Hallgarten & Company in

London.

"The military uses of Sb (antimony) are now the tail that

wags the dog. Everyone needs it for armaments so it is better to

hang onto it than sell it," he said. "This will put a real

squeeze on the U.S. and European militaries."

The limits, effective from Sept. 15, apply to six kinds of

antimony-related products, including antimony ore, antimony

metals and antimony oxide, the ministry said in a statement.

The rules also ban the export of gold-antimony smelting and

separation technology without permission.

DUAL USE

Exporters of affected products must apply for export

licenses for dual-use items and technologies - those with

potential military as well as civil applications - it said.

The U.S. and other countries are scrambling to ease their

reliance on China for key materials, setting out policies and

support packages for their critical minerals sectors, including

rare earths.

In an April research note, analysts at China Securities said

increasing demand for arms and ammunition due to wars and

geopolitical tensions was likely to see tightening control and

stockpiling of antimony ore.

Perpetua Resources ( PPTA ), which is building a U.S.

antimony and gold project with support from the Pentagon and the

U.S. Export-Import Bank, had initially planned to begin

production by 2028, should it obtain final permits this year.

But China's moves meant the company is studying ways to produce

antimony faster.

"We are looking at things that we can do during construction

to get antimony out the door sooner for some of these strategic

needs," Jon Cherry, Perpetua's CEO, told Reuters.

"The (U.S.) Department of Defense is aware of the critical

nature of antimony and the short supply available. We've been

hearing from a lot of different sources about the lack of supply

for antimony, that the market is very tight and getting tighter

daily."

Shares of Perpetua jumped as much as 19% on Thursday to

levels not seen in three years.

WIDENING CURBS

China's latest curbs follow a wave of such restrictions

introduced since last year.

In December, China banned the export of technology to make

rare earth magnets, which came on top of a ban already in place

on exporting technology to extract and separate the critical

materials.

Beijing has also tightened exports of some graphite

products, and imposed restrictions on exports of gallium and

germanium products widely used in the semiconductor industry.

Prices of antimony surged to record highs this year, fueled

by tight supply and growing demand, especially from the

photovoltaic sector, where the metal is used to improve the

performance of solar cells.

That has helped push up the share prices of Chinese

producers including Hunan Gold, Tibet Huayu Mining

and Guangxi Huaxi Non-Ferrous by between

66% and 93% so far in 2024.

One antimony producer in Hunan province said they were

waiting to see the results of the latest move, but added: "We

believe in the short term prices should be supported by a wave

of rush stockpiling from overseas buyers." They declined to be

identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

While China is the biggest supplier of refined antimony, it

is a net importer of concentrates and depends on ore from

countries including Thailand, Myanmar and Russia, customs data

showed. Imports from Russia have fallen sharply this year.

"A lack of concentrate feedstock remains the key feature of

the antimony market at present," said Jack Bedder, co-founder of

consultancy Project Blue.