(Dec 17): A Chinese court has convicted 27 people for smuggling antimony ingots out of the country without export permits, in a symbolic case highlighting Beijing’s determination to tighten its grip on strategic minerals.
The main defendant was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined one million yuan (US$142,000 or $183,564), according to a statement on Tuesday on the official WeChat account of the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court. The others were fined and handed jail terms of between four months and five years.
Antimony, a strategic mineral used in ammunition and flame retardants, has been subject to export controls since September 2024, causing a sharp spike in its price. China — by far the world’s largest producer — regards the metal as critical to its national security but said last month it would relax an outright ban on exports to the US as part of a wider trade truce agreed with US President Donald Trump.
About 166 tons of ingots were smuggled by the accused, of which 96 tons were seized by Chinese customs, the court said. It gave no details on the whereabouts of the remaining metal. The crimes were said to have taken place in February and March.
The main defendant, identified by the court as Wang Wubin, was found guilty of conspiring with — or being commissioned by — unidentified overseas smugglers. His role was to organise a group to buy antimony and move it out of China, evading export controls by concealing or disguising the ingot or making false customs declarations, the court said. It gave no further details about the accused.
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