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简体中文 Tungsten price decline continues in China, with no signs of market stabilization. For more than a month, tungsten prices have dropped sharply. Market sentiment has changed greatly. Before March, the market was optimistic. Later, downstream buyers hoped prices would stabilize. Recently, scrap tungsten recyclers in Hebei Province have rushed to sell stocks, bringing obvious pessimism to the market. Do you follow regular market changes passively? Or do you avoid risks in advance by judging market greed?
Recent Tungsten Price Data
First, let’s look at the tungsten price decline comparison chart for May 19 (data sourced from China Tungsten Online):
As of press time:
– 65% Wolframite Concentrate: CNY 440,000 per metric ton unit, down 58.1% from its peak and 4.4% lower than the start of the year.
– 65% Scheelite Concentrate: CNY 439,000 per metric ton unit, down 58.2% from its peak and 4.4% lower than the start of the year.
– Ammonium Paratungstate (APT): CNY 680,000 per ton, down 55.3% from its peak but up 1.5% year-to-date.
– European APT: USD 3,000–3,280 per tonne degree (equivalent to CNY 1,809,000–1,978,000 per ton), up 241.3% year-to-date.
– Tungsten Powder: CNY 1,450 per kilogram, down 39.6% from its peak but up 34.3% year-to-date.
– Tungsten Carbide Powder: CNY 1,380 per kilogram, down 41.0% from its peak but up 32.7% year-to-date.
– Cobalt Powder: CNY 570 per kilogram, down 1.7% from its peak but up 9.6% year-to-date.
– 70% Tungsten Iron: CNY 780,000 per ton, down 45.1% from its peak but up 20.0% year-to-date.
– European Tungsten Iron: USD 265–275 per kilogram of tungsten (equivalent to CNY 1,264,000–1,312,000 per ton), down 14.6% from its peak but up 96.4% year-to-date.
– Scrap Tungsten Rods: CNY 650 per kilogram, down 52.6% from its peak but up 8.3% year-to-date.
– Scrap Tungsten Drills: CNY 600 per kilogram, down 56.2% from its peak but up 3.5% year-to-date.
Market Analysis
Data shows tungsten concentrate prices have fallen by nearly 60%, lower than the price level at the start of 2026. APT prices have also dropped to nearly early-2026 levels.
In contrast, tungsten powder and tungsten carbide powder still keep a year-to-date increase of about 30%. This is why the prices of finished tungsten products have not dropped as fast as raw materials.
Key Reasons for the Price Downtrend
Supply Side
Many stock holders sell inventories to ease capital pressure and lock in profits, which increases circulating goods in the market. The sharp price rise in the early stage brought huge profits. Many holders and traders chose to sell large amounts of goods at high prices. Some even sold in panic, leading to a sharp rise in spot goods supply and pushing prices further down.
Meanwhile, scrap Tungsten price declined, and the market continued to consume high-cost inventories. Many mines increased sales through bidding, and more traders chose to cash out their stocks. Overall tungsten concentrate supply has become sufficient.
Demand Side
Downstream enterprises hold a bearish view and are cautious about purchasing. They delay or reduce orders, which weakens market demand. Core tungsten consumption fields including cemented carbide, cutting tools and special steel have recovered slower than expected.
The early sharp rise of tungsten prices brought high cost pressure to downstream processing enterprises. These enterprises faced losses when taking new orders, so they stopped large-scale purchasing and used existing inventories to maintain production. Smelters also face tight capital. They have enough raw material reserves and few new orders, so their purchasing demand is weak.
At present, market transactions are mostly small rigid orders, and the overall trading activity is low.
China’s Tungsten Import Situation & Analysis
The import data from January to March is worthy of attention:
– Tungsten Ore and Concentrate: Import volume 7,810,023 kg, import value CNY 2.496 billion, with an import cost of about CNY 320,000 per ton. Domestic spot price: CNY 440,000 per ton. Price gap: CNY 120,000 per ton.
– Tungsten Carbide: Import volume 4,710 kg, import value CNY 5,046,056, with an import cost of about CNY 1,071.35 per kg. Domestic spot price: CNY 1,380 per kg. Price gap: about CNY 308.7 per kg.
– Tungsten Powder: Import volume 8,474 kg, import value CNY 8,834,584, with an import cost of about CNY 1,042.6 per kg. Domestic spot price: CNY 1,450 per kg. Price gap: CNY 407.4 per kg.
After adding transportation, customs clearance and other fees, current domestic market prices are close to import costs.
Five key market observations are summarized as follows:
1.the recent price drop is extremely large, with prices falling by more than 50% in 50 days, a rare market change.
2.import costs are close to domestic market prices, and the price gap of tungsten powder and tungsten carbide has narrowed to about 30%.
3.the prices of APT in European and American markets are more than twice domestic prices, forming a huge price difference at home and abroad.
4.scrap tungsten is a leading market indicator. It dropped first and has basically bottomed out, with slight rebound and small fluctuations. The whole tungsten product market follows the same rule. Oversold rebound and market fluctuation are normal self-adjustment affected by market sentiment.
5.market operating rates were low from January to May, leading to shrinking or stagnant market demand. If enterprises resume full production in June, market demand will start to recover.
By then, the tungsten market will return to normal and rational operation.
Tungsten Market Forecast
The current tungsten market is in a stage of digesting risks brought by high price corrections. We analyze the market from supply, demand and policy dimensions:
On the supply side, long-term tungsten supply is restricted by national export control and total mining quota policies. However, short-term selling pressure from profit-taking stocks has not been fully released, and low-cost resources continue to affect market prices.
On the demand side, downstream enterprises mainly consume existing inventories and have low willingness for active purchasing. Traditional consumption markets recover slowly, and new emerging industries cannot drive price recovery for the time being. End users still hold a wait-and-see attitude and only buy goods when prices rise.
On the policy side, the revised Mineral Resources Law Implementation Regulations (Draft) strengthens long-term supply restrictions. Leading industry enterprises have lowered long-term order prices, guiding the market to return to rationality. The huge price difference between domestic and foreign markets provides external support for domestic tungsten prices, but export limits weaken this supporting effect in the short term.
Overall, tungsten prices will remain under pressure and fluctuate weakly before market selling pressure fades and downstream enterprises start active stock replenishment.
Conclusion
Tungsten is an irreplaceable metal for traditional mechanical processing and emerging industries. Supported by China’s industrial policies and global geopolitical trends, tungsten prices have solid bottom support. It is unlikely that prices will fall back to the low level of 2025, and the previous sharp single-sided price rise will not happen again.
From now to June is a good time to purchase Chinese cemented carbide products. Tungsten prices have fallen excessively for more than a month. With the resumption of industrial production in June, market tungsten inventory will be continuously consumed. Chinese tungsten prices still have nearly half the price advantage compared with international prices.
The optimal procurement window has opened, helping enterprises reduce purchasing costs. We will release timely updates and announcements if raw material prices change sharply in the future.
