Report on the Development of China's Tungsten Industry 2021 (I)

2021 is a year of great significance in China's developing history and the beginning of China's 14th Five-year Plan. In the face of the complex environment of century changes and century epidemic, China's cadres and workers in the tungsten industry stick to their original intention, forge ahead, continue to consolidate the stable and good development trend, firmly continue the good trend of steady growth, firmly grasp the established direction of high-quality development, and restore the growth of product output, profits and taxes, Operating income reached a record high, key projects were promoted in an orderly manner, the industrial structure was continuously optimized, new achievements were made in scientific and technological innovation, brand building was fruitful, and new progress was made in greening and intellectualization.

PART I  OVERVIEW OF TUNGSTEN INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS GLOBALLY

1.1 Global Tungsten Resource Reserves & Production Increased Slightly

According to the data of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the world's tungsten reserves in 2021 were 3.7 million tons (all ton here is metric ton, e.g., MT, tungsten metal, the same below), with a year-on-year increase of 8.28%. Global tungsten resources are mainly distributed in China, Russia, Vietnam and other countries. Among them, China's tungsten reserves are 1.9 million tons, accounting for 51.35%, Russia's tungsten reserves are 400,000 tons, accounting for 10.81%, and Vietnam's tungsten reserves are 95,000 tons, accounting for 2.70%. China has obvious advantages in tungsten resources and reserves (see Table 1).

Table 1 Distribution of Global Tungsten Resources & Reserves

USGS (Canada, Kazakhstan and the US also have a large amount of tungsten resources)

According to the data of the USGS, the global output of tungsten concentrate in 2021 was 79,000 tons, with a year-on-year increase of 0.77%, and the overall growth remained stable. The output of tungsten concentrate is mainly distributed in China, Vietnam, Russia and other countries. Among them, the output of tungsten concentrate in China is 66,000 tons (there is a certain difference with the verified data of China, see below), accounting for 83.54%, and the output of tungsten concentrate in Vietnam is 4,500 tons, accounting for 5.70%. China's tungsten concentrates production accounts for a prominent proportion in the world, and the consumption of tungsten resources is too fast, which does not match the proportion of reserves. The output of each country is shown in Table 2.

US SALIENT TUNGSTEN STATISTICS (Metric Tons, Tungsten Content)

Nuiphao Tungsten Mine is located in Nguyen Viet Nam Province in northern Vietnam

The mine has an estimated ore reserve of 66 million tons and an ore grade of 0.21%. As the flagship asset of Mashan Group, the deposit is also associated with fluorite, bismuth and copper. In addition, the deposit has a wide range of open-pit mines with low stripping rate, and the estimated mining life is 20 years. The mine has an annual output of 6000 tons of tungsten concentrate and an annual increase of 10%. Compared with China, Vietnam has labor costs and many posts development advantages. Therefore, the mine is a strong competitor of China’s enterprises in terms of product competitiveness and future strategy.

Table 2 Global Tungsten Concentrate Output

Dolphin Tungsten Mine is one of the top ten tungsten mine projects outside China

The latest data released in September 2019 showed that the total mineral resources of Dolphin Tungsten project were increased by 18% to 11.36 million tons, the average grade of tungsten trioxide was 0.9%, and the resource of tungsten trioxide was 102400 tons. Among them, the resources of bold head mining area in the north of Dolphin Tungsten are 1.76 million tons, and the average grade of tungsten trioxide is 0.91%. (news.chinatungsten.com) 

Tungsten mining out of China and beneficiation projects are gradually promoted, and the international tungsten output is expected to increase in the future. Tungsten West Ltd continues to promote the transformation of Hermerdon Tungsten Mine in the UK, and the resumption of production is expected to be postponed to 2023; The Bakuta tungsten mine project in Kazakhstan continues to be promoted. It is planned to be completed and put into operation in 2023, with an annual output of about 15000 tons of tungsten concentrate; According to the prospectus of Almonty Industries Inc in Canada, the affiliated Sangdong Tungsten Molybdenum project in South Korea is planned to be put into operation within the year. The tungsten reserves of the mine are equivalent to about 51000 tons of W03, and the grade of W03 is 0.41%; King Island Sheelite of Australia raised funds to restart Dolphin Tungsten mine project. The project was operated from 1917 to 1990 and was closed due to low market prices. After that, it was restarted many times without success.

On November 11, 2020, Kazakhstan Jietesu Tungsten Industry Co., Ltd., invested by Jiangxi copper and started the Bakuta extra-large open-pit tungsten mine project, which has world-class tungsten resources. it will become one of the single tungsten mines with the largest production capacity in the world, and the annual output of tungsten concentrate is expected to exceed 10% of the world's annual output of tungsten concentrate.

1.2 Good Benefits of Top Advanced Enterprises

In the application field of high-end cemented carbide, the revenue and profit of top well-known tungsten cemented carbide enterprises in Euro and US increased well. Sandvik's, a Swedish enterprises, the tops tungsten carbide powder manufacturer worldwide, operating revenue in 2021 was SEK 99.105 billion (equivalent to RMB 73.516 billion), a year-on-year increase of 14.70%, its operating profit was SEK 18.654 billion (equivalent to RMB 13.838 billion), a year-on-year increase of 66.32%, and its profit margin was 18.8%, an increase of 5.8 percentage points over the previous year; The operating revenue of its processing solutions business segment was SEK 3.681 billion (equivalent to RMB 27.210 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 12.94%, and the operating profit was SEK 8.058 billion (equivalent to RMB 5.97 billion). 

Sandvik 800i series high-performance interconnected cone crushers.

The largest tungsten enterprise in the world is Sandvik of Sweden. Its main tungsten products are tungsten cemented carbide products, but its main income has indeed been all kinds of complete sets of equipment, software and services with cemented carbide as cutting tools. This is also the great advantage of the company in the global tungsten products market

The year-on-year growth was 74.95%, and the profit margin was 22.0%, an increase of 7.8 percentage points over the previous year. In fiscal year 2021, Kennametal, another top tungsten carbide powder manufacturer of American achieved an operating revenue of US $1.841 billion (equivalent to RMB 11.831 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 2.33%, a net profit of US $544 million (equivalent to RMB 3.497 billion), turning losses into profits, and a profit margin of 5.5%, an increase of 4.3 percentage points over the previous year.

Kennametal MEGA 45 ° heavy end socket milling cutter can improve the metal removal rate (MRR) up to 30%; Tungsten Cemented carbide tool pads provide protection for the tool body.

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"Report on the Development of China's Tungsten Industry 2021"

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