Tungsten Price Rises on Tight Supply

Tungsten is expected to have supply shortage issues in 2011 stemming from export restrictions from China. Due to supply issues the metal has been placed on a list of critical strategic metals by the U.S. and the European Union. Yesterday, China s second largest tungsten producer, Jiangxi Tungsten announced that it will shut down their plant for 3 months for a regular overhaul of the facility. This decrease in supply will put further pressure on supply in the first half of this year and may affect prices that are already around record levels. The price of tungsten APT has risen 81 percent since year over year, from US$185 per MTU to its current price of $335 per MTU. Tungsten concentrate is trading at 111,000-113,000 yuan ($16,742-17,043) per tonne on Wednesday, with prices in the higher end rising 1,000 yuan from last week, stated Metal Bulletin.

The decrease in supply from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to the conflict minerals bill passed by the U.S. government is also another factor to consider for supply-demand fundamentals in this market. The call for tracing the source of minerals in conflict zones has hit a road block due to a lack of funding. We were already working to tight timescales with no untraceable material being acceptable to the markets after April 1 , stated Kay Nimmo, sustainability and regulatory affairs manager for the International Tin Research Institute. While the decrease in supply from the DRC is minor, as the nation only accounts for 2 to 4 percent of world supply, every bit adds to the tightness of supply chains.