Tungsten and Cobalt Price Rise, Cemented Carbide Manufacturers Price Adjustment Again

Recently, the major manufacturers of tungsten products industry have issued price increase letters, announcing that starting in April, the price of all tungsten products such as cemented carbide and sprayed powder will be raised again.

The reason for price increase is that the price of tungsten and cobalt continues to rise. The carbide products are mainly tungsten carbide (80%-98%) and cobalt as binder phase (6%-20%). They are made of ball milling, spray granulation, pressing and sintering. They have high hardness, strength, wear resistance and corrosion resistance. They are mainly used in cutting tools, stamping tools, molds, and mining. And road construction machinery and other fields; while spraying powder is mainly used for material surface wear resistance and corrosion resistance strengthening, the main material is tungsten carbide.

With the price of cemented carbide products rising again, the production costs of various related industries have increased significantly compared with last year. It is understood that since the second half of 2017, the price of tungsten and cobalt materials has fluctuated significantly. In a few months, the price of alloy materials has risen several times, and domestic alloy tool manufacturers have adjusted the price of products several times.

According to media reports, the supply of tungsten, molybdenum, rare earth and other mineral resources has been tightened due to the strengthening of the implementation of environmental protection policies last year. Most mines have been forced to stop production or rectify. So far, most mines are still in a standstill state. As China produces about 80% of the world's tungsten raw materials, the reduction in output leads to a reversal of supply and demand in the market, and tungsten is transformed from a seller's market to a buyer's market. Compared with March 2017, the price of most tungsten raw materials has risen by 50%.

Nevertheless, tungsten cannot rise as fast as cobalt. With the issuance of new energy automobile policies around the world, the demand for cobalt has been enlarged infinitely. International mining giants take the opportunity to speculate, the main origin of Congo's rising taxes and fees, multi-profitable, geese plucking wool, to promote cobalt prices soaring. It has doubled in 2017, and there is still no sign that it will stop. Prices are constantly refreshing people's psychological expectations, which is stunning.

According to the statistics of Tungsten Association, China's cemented carbide output in 2016 totals 37700 tons, and the output is increasing year by year. According to the national plan, China will become the manufacturing base of key complete sets of equipment and advanced scientific instruments such as automobiles, large aircraft, ships, electronic components, large-scale integrated circuits, high-grade numerical control machine tools by 2020, which will greatly enhance the demand for cutting tools. At the same time, China will continue to strictly implement and promote environmental protection measures, the imbalance between supply and demand in the market will continue, and the cost of raw materials such as tungsten, cobalt, indium and rare earth will remain high.

Therefore, the major cemented carbide enterprises have been difficult to bear the pressure of rising raw material prices, and have to transfer the cost to products, so in the near future, cemented carbide products have been raised in succession. (China Tungsten Online: Weiping)

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