At the beginning of the week, the overall domestic molybdenum market was still weak. Affected by the decline in the number of ferro molybdenum tendered by steel companies and the tender price, many suppliers of molybdenum raw materials lowered their quotations. Ferro molybdenum price fell below 180,000 yuan/ton. 

Tungsten holds many uses, including in the manufacture of electrical wire, as well as for heating and electrical contacts. It is also used in welding, heavy metal alloys, turbine blades and as a lead substitute for bullets. Below is an overview of the top eight tungsten producing countries.

Tungsten is a critical mineral and demand remains robust in the US and Europe, while prices for tungsten concentrate continue to trend upward. Group 6 Metals (G6M) expects market demand for tungsten would continue to be strong, and G6M is targeting first tungsten concentrate from its Dolphin Mine on King Island, Tasmania, in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2023).

The mining company Fireweed Metals Corp in Yukon, Canada. has signed a binding letter of intent to acquire a major tungsten project, the Mactung Project, from the Government of the Northwest Territories, which straddles the border between the Yukon and Northwest Territories. It was acquired by the Northwest Territories government (NWT government) in 2015 as part of the bankruptcy of North American Tungsten Corporation Limited.

Apple Inc. has confirmed to MarketWatch that the company is no longer importing tungsten and gold from Russia. The tech giant uses a range of materials in its products, including gold (Au), tungsten (W) and tantalum (Ta), however, Russian companies in its supply chain have come under scrutiny.

According to an update from Bill Braden, media relations manager at Cheetah Resources, early commissioning of Vital Metals' Saskatoon rare earth extraction plant has officially begun. Rare earth ore mined at Vital's Nechalacho project in mid-2021 will now enter processing and the supply chain in line with the next step in the company's ongoing work.

Searchlight Resources Inc. announced the commencement of fieldwork on rare earth elements (REEs) and uranium (U) targets on Kulyk Lake Exploration Project, located approximately 165 kilometers north of La Ronge, Saskatchewan, and 65 kilometers south of the Key Lake property.

Analysis of latest tungsten market from Chinatungsten Online

In the first half of 2022, China tungsten price generally showed an unstable tend featuring rising first and then falling. The industry was significantly disturbed by the epidemic, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the global economic and financial situation.

This week, the overall focus of domestic rare earth prices moved down slightly. In the state of long-term weak demand from downstream users, the seller's market is slightly less confident in price stability, mainly reflected in the price of praseodymium neodymium oxide, terbium oxide and dysprosium oxide, which dropped slightly to 935,000 yuan/ton, 14,500 yuan/kg and 2,470,000 yuan/ton, respectively.

This week, the overall domestic molybdenum market showed a weak pattern. Affected by the significant decrease in the number of tenders and prices of steel companies compared with the previous two weeks, many suppliers' firm quotation confidence was slightly loosened. The prices of molybdenum concentrate and ferro molybdenum declined to around RMB 2,760/mtu and RMB 179,000/ton, respectively.