Tungsten Prices Diverge Sharply at Home and Abroad; Global Supply Chain Restructuring Accelerates

On May 15, domestic tungsten powder and tungsten carbide powder fell to 1,550 yuan/kg and 1,480 yuan/kg, respectively, nearly halved from their March highs. Meanwhile, overseas markets remained robust, with European ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices holding above $3,000 per mtu, largely ignoring the domestic downturn.

The price gap stems from market fragmentation caused by export controls. China's APT exports plummeted nearly 70% in 2025, while tungsten concentrate imports surged 169% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, leaving a large volume of material stranded in the domestic market. Combined with profit-taking by earlier stockpiling traders, the domestic market came under pressure and corrected. In contrast, overseas markets are grappling with tight supply and geopolitical drivers, prompting Europe and the U.S. to accelerate the build-out of tungsten supply chains decoupled from China. Starting in 2027, the U.S. will ban Chinese tungsten products from defense procurement and is supporting the expansion of domestic tungsten oxide production. South Korea's Sangdong tungsten mine began production in March; at full capacity, it can meet about 40% of global demand outside China.

The long-term supply-demand tightness remains unchanged. China's tungsten mining quota will be reduced by another 8% this year, while new demand continues to be fueled by factors such as photovoltaic tungsten wire, whose penetration rate has exceeded 80%. Analysts view the current domestic decline as a short-term technical correction, but against the backdrop of global supply chain restructuring, price divergence between domestic and overseas markets may become the norm.