Environmental Inspections in JiangXi, China Continue to Rise Global APT Price

Last week, the price of ammonium terephthalate (APT) in Europe and the Chinese export market continued to rise, mainly because Jiangxi Province, the world's leading tungsten production center, is undergoing environmental inspections. In addition, due to the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iranian nuclear agreement, the relevant countries in the Middle East are preparing for war, which has also provoked panic in the global buyer market. Therefore, most people will express their concerns about the future supply of tungsten.

It is understood that the Ganzhou Tungsten Association has increased the tungsten price forecast for May after a new round of environmental inspection at the important tungsten production center in Jiangxi Province in mid-May. As of May 9, the FOB China APT quoted by the London Metal Herald was quoted at US$331 to US$335 (mtu). The price continued to rise slightly from the previous week, but the price increase did not dispel the buyer's buying enthusiasm. Significantly increased.

Tungsten is an important industrial metal mainly used in the manufacture of hard metals. It is also used in the manufacture of steel and alloys and electronic products. In the production of terminal tungsten products, APT is the most important tungsten intermediate product and the most important tungsten traded on the market. Raw materials. It is separated from the ore by a series of physical and chemical methods. It is well known that from ore to APT, mining, re-election, flotation, reduction, purification and crystallization are required. A series of operational processes in the production of APT will produce a lot of pollution, and a complete pollution control process requires more cost. In the past, a small number of companies cut corners on environmental protection projects and disrupted the market at low prices. Now, China has urged these manufacturers to comply with environmental regulations through legal and government inspections. Therefore, the increase in objective costs has led to a passive increase in APT tungsten prices.

China is not only the largest producer of tungsten, but also the largest consumer. Although China's crackdown on illegal and environmentally-damaged mines has been the biggest factor in the rise of tungsten prices, many people are interested in new energy applications for automobiles and batteries. In addition, the international situation has also had some impact on tungsten prices.

On May 8, US President Trump unilaterally announced his withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement and resumed all previous sanctions against Iran. On the day of its announcement of the withdrawal of the agreement, Israel and Iran have a military conflict in Syria. Based on concerns about the possible Middle East war, tungsten demand will be pushed up as an important military material.

In short, the recent tight supply of tungsten and APT in China indicates that this trend may seem to continue for some time, because China's supply is still limited due to environmental inspections and global demand for tungsten metal applications.

Due to the expected increase in tungsten prices around the world, more countries will invest in the mining team in the future. Recently, Vietnam, Australia, the United Kingdom and other tungsten mines with large reserves of resources have been put on the agenda and are financing.

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