Tungsten market summary Aug 22-26

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 29 Aug 05 – Chinese Tungsten Industry Association (CTIA) held conference in Wulumuqi Xinjiang, and set new price guidance for tungsten concentrate at RMB75,000/t (USD142/mtu) on Monday. Many suppliers raised their quotes on Wednesday, but few deals were concluded.Asian Metal CopyrightThere are more inquires of cemented carbide, but few deals were concluded.Asian Metal Copyright

Before the CTIA conference, many tungsten suppliers started to hold their material from the end of last week, and hoped CTIA would set a high price guidance to save the sliding market. However, CTIA Price Committee only set price guidance for the concentrate at RMB75,000/t (USD142/mtu), which was close to the market price but below participants' expectations.Asian Metal Copyright Same as other tungsten products, tungsten carbide market remained quiet.Asian Metal Copyright The market showed no reaction to the price guidance.Asian Metal Copyright Insiders told Asian Metal that the price rise is for the shortage of tungsten concentrate, but the explanation is hard to make people believe, so few deals were concluded.Asian Metal Copyright Price of tungsten products remained the same as last week early this week.Asian Metal CopyrightBEIJING Asian Metal 29 Aug 05 – Chinese Tungsten Industry Association CTIA held conference in Wulumuqi Xinjiang, and set new price guidance for tungsten concentrate at RMB75,000t USD142mtu on Monday.Asian Metal Copyright

However, many suppliers abruptly raised prices on Wednesday. Insiders told Asian Metal that the price rise is for the shortage of tungsten concentrate, but the explanation is hard to make people believe, so few deals were concluded. The price of tungsten concentrate price rose from RMB72,000-75,000/t (USD137-142/mtu) to RMB75,000-80,000/t (USD142-152/mtu). Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group Corporation (JXTC) sets its concentrate at RMB85,000/t (USD161/mtu), but not for sale because JXTC uses its own concentrate for downstream production. Other major state-owned suppliers quote at around RMB80,000-82,000/t (USD152-156/mtu), and small private suppliers quote at around RMB75,000-78,000/t (USD142-148/mtu).

For the higher tungsten concentrate price, that of tungsten APT also rose up to current RMB125,000-135,000/t (USD174-188/mtu) from RMB120,000-125,000/t (USD167-174/mtu) last week. Market participants said the market remained quiet, and few deals were concluded. APT export price dropped from USD210-220/mtu to USD200-210/mtu this week reported by some smelters, but European market participants still showed no interest for buying.

The price of tungsten carbide powder (medium size) also climbed from RMB180-200/kg (USD22.2-24.7/kg) to RMB210-230/kg (USD25.Asian Metal Copyright9-28.Asian Metal Copyright9-28.4/kg).Asian Metal Copyright The price of tungsten concentrate price rose from RMB72,000-75,000t USD137-142mtu to RMB75,000-80,000t USD142-152mtu.Asian Metal Copyright Same as other tungsten products, tungsten carbide market remained quiet.

More inquires for ferrotungsten, and the price rose from last week’s USD24-26/kg to current USD26-27/kg. Three major ferrotungsten smelters are planning to resume their productions in September.Asian Metal Copyright Three major ferrotungsten smelters are planning to resume their productions in September.Asian Metal Copyright

There are more inquires of cemented carbide, but few deals were concluded.