Tungsten Concentrate Market in China Supported by Tight Supply

Details: Category: Tungsten's News; Published on Thursday, 21 March 2019 19:21

Analysis of latest tungsten market from Chinatungsten Online

Tungsten concentrates tightness and a new round of inspections in China’s Jiangxi province lent support to the raw material markets in China. But considering the weakness in the demand side, tungsten market is caught in wait-and-see atmosphere.

The supply of tungsten concentrate is relatively increasing after the end of Two Sessions, but most sellers still are reluctant to sell. Transaction prices get no support from trading volumes. Tungsten concentrate price would be hard to rise to the level of $15,384.6/t.

In China, the first batch of tungsten ore mining in 2019 reached 49,935 tons, a 22 percent year-to-year decline. The controls in domestic mining and Russia’s ban on exporting non-ferrous metal ores and concentrates have raised expectations for market supply. However, as the demand side remains unclear, traders are cautious.

In the ammonium metatungstate (APT) market, China’ Xiamen Tungsten released its offer level of APT at $264.2/mtu, unchanged from last time. The conservative attitude of large enterprises further lowers trading activity. This week, APT price would hover around the guide price.

For the tungsten powder market, the terminal manufacturing industry comes in below expectations, downstream tungsten carbide and product companies receive limited new orders and some factories even decline offers for some products, so the cost and demand are in a stalemate. Given that, tungsten powder price may continue to stabilize.

Prices of tungsten products on Mar. 21, 2019

tungsten powder price picture