Tantalum capacitors buyers should keep a close eye on the price of tantalum ore. Rising ore prices could result in higher prices for tantalum capacitors.

Tantalum capacitor prices had been soft last year during the downturn when capacitor demand decline. Many capacitor suppliers cut back on production capacity. The cutbacks led to longer leadtimes and some capacitor suppliers increased prices 5-10% for tantalum capacitors in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Some suppliers say prices could increase if there is an increase in raw materials such as tantalum ore. In fact, the price of tantalite from which tantalum is derived has been increasing, according to website metals-pages.com which follows prices of raw materials

The average price of tantalite increased from $35/lb in November to $43 in January.

Last year, several tantalum mines closed down because the price had plunged. Mine owners said their mines would stay closed until the price rebounded.

Highland African Mining (HAM), a subsidiary of Noventa Ltd, registered in Jersey and run by John N. Allan, said that it is to resume production of tantalum concentrate.

See our latest Tantalum prices and graphs