Tungsten market prices keep increasing
2005-05-09 09:32:40 【Print】
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 9 May 05 – Although tungsten market prices are dramatically high, many market participants still believe that tungsten prices will continue to increase.
“We quote tungsten APT at USD250/mtu now if foreign buyers enquire,” a sales manager from a major South China-based cemented carbide smelter told Asian Metal today. “As the tungsten APT export rebate decreased to 8%, we have had to transfer the 5% rebate decrease to buyers, so the above quotation is the bottom line.” The manager added that foreign buyers may be unwilling to accept temporarily but would finally accept.
According to the source, the concluded tungsten concentrate prices are RMB125,000/t.
A purchasing manager from another South China-based cemented carbide smelter reported to Asian Metal, “We just purchased some tungsten concentrate for over RMB128,000/t,” adding that current tungsten concentrate prices are quoted as high as RMB130,000/t.
According to the source, the company’s cash flow is very tight, leaving insufficient funds to buy more materials. “I speculate that some tungsten concentrate smelters possibly stock materials on purpose in order to raise the price up,” he added.
Usually, the smelter consumes almost 300t of tungsten APT per month but currently only consumes around 100t. “Tungsten APT is tight, and smelters haven’t quoted recently,” said the source, adding that the smelter also produces tungsten APT, but cannot meet its cemented carbide production.
Furthermore, the source believes that tungsten product prices will continue to increase due to a tight supply of materials in market.
