ALGERIAN, SPANISH FIRMS AGREE QUICKSILVER PRICE
Algerian and Spanish producers which
together meet 40 pct of the Western market's needs in
quicksilver have agreed to apply a minimum selling price of 300
dlrs per unit, the Algerian news agency APS said.
    The agreement was made during a meeting here last week
between Algeria's Entreprise Nationale des Non-ferreux et
Substances Utiles (ENOF) and Spain's Almaden to discuss the
market situation.
    The two firms "took note with regret that prices quoted by
some specialised publications do not reflect the reality of the
whole market since they take into account only part of the
deals made," a statement by ENOF said.
    The result is that the prices quoted are far away from two
firms' production costs.
    "They have thus decided that their selling price would not
be linked any more to the prices quoted by these publications
and that sales would be made at a minimum price of 300 dlrs fob
per jar, which is close to their production cost," the statement
said.
    It added that Turkish producers would join in when the two
firms meet again in Madrid later this month.
    The price of quicksilver on the London Metal Exchange
hovered around 200 dlrs this week.
 REUTER
