China Tungsten Concentrate Output Will Keep Stable 1/2

Tungsten concentrate output maintained a stable operation last year. The output of tungsten smelting and processing products kept growing. Especially the output of tungsten cemented carbide continued to maintain a double-digit growth trend. The steady supply of tungsten concentrate output in the market will continue. As tungsten concentrate market demand is high.

According to the statistics of China Tungsten Association, the output of tungsten concentrate in China 2018 was 126,000 tons, it declined 3.73% compared with 2017. The main reason is that the production includes the processing output and trade volume of mineral products of trading enterprises, and there are repeated statistics. Due to safety and environmental protection and non-renewable tungsten resources, some tungsten mines have stopped production; some mineral products trading enterprises have stopped production. The output growth rate continues to slow down and will keep stable.

Tungsten concentrate production will continue to keep stable in 2019 globally. First, phenomenon depletion of resources and insufficient replacement of resources has become increasingly prominent. And tungsten mining is limited by policy control, resource endowment, mining cost, safety and environmental protection etc. Mining output of main tungsten mines is difficult to grow. By the end of 2018, there have been 10 main tungsten mines in China been used over 100 years, the average grade of processed ore has dropped from 0.42% in 2004 to 0.28% in 2017 in China. A survey conducted by the China Tungsten Association on 34 major tungsten mines showed that the resources of 24 tungsten mines declined, 7 of them were exhausted. The second is the decline in the comprehensive utilization of the associated tungsten resources. The comprehensive utilization of tungsten resources associated with Henan Province has declined over three consecutive years, from 24,498 tons in 2015 to 16,078 tons in 2018, a decrease of 7,920 tons and 32.33%. Third, the processing output of mineral products of trading companies has shrunk. The above-mentioned production reduction factors have offset the increase of main mining tungsten ore due to technological transformation in individual areas. The national tungsten concentrate production will remain stable.

Tungsten concentrate supply in the market will continue stable. The price of tungsten concentrate is affected by the decline of resource grade, rising cost, increased safety and environmental protection pressure, the space for decline is small. Downstream demand growth is slowing, market demand pressure is still large. Price of tungsten intermediate products and end products such as hard alloys and tungsten materials is under pressure, while the possibility of a large increase is unlikely. The tungsten market price is expected to continue to operate in a relatively reasonable range.

China Tungsten Concentrate Output Will Keep Stable 2/2

• < Prev
• Next >