China and Tungsten Market

There is an abundance of concern and discomfort with China’s grasp on the tungsten market. The Chinese government only exacerbates these sentiments with its export quota policy, which restricts how much of the metal can be sold outside of the country. As these quotas have become stricter, the world’s rations have gotten smaller.

A number of theories exist in the tungsten industry in regards to China’s motives for increasing its stranglehold on the metal. Some point to the nation’s rising domestic demand for tungsten and note that China’s producers are experiencing rising costs, falling grades, increasing environmental concerns, and stricter regulations. Some believe the Chinese may be stockpiling tungsten for future use.

Also perhaps playing a role is a commonly-noted trend that involves China discouraging the sale of raw tungsten and encouraging the sale of more expensive tungsten products.

"Historically, what China has done is mined its own resources and sold them to other countries where they were put into products. In other words, those companies have value added to a resource provided by China," Smith said. "Today, from what it looks like to me, China is looking to dominate world manufacturing. They’re saying, ‘hold on a minute, why don’t we value add to our own resources and instead of selling people raw materials, sell them a finished product.’"

As with most markets, speculation factors into the investment draw that people see in tungsten.

Still, there are real and measurable effects of China’s activities. Reducing exports, which limits the amount of metal on the international market, boosts prices. End users are further impacted with cost increases when China peddles them value-added goods instead of raw material.

Yet reliability remains an issue. In addition to China’s motives, other important pieces of information about the nation’s tungsten are unknown, including how much it has and how much it is using.

Tungsten Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinatungsten.com
Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
Email: sales@chinatungsten.com
Tungsten Picture Center: http://picture.chinatungsten.com
Tungsten Video Center: http://v.chinatungsten.com
Tungsten News & Tungsten Prices, 3G Version: http://3g.chinatungsten.com

• < Prev
• Next >