Cemented carbide prices drop again

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 1 Dec 08 – Under the global economic crisis cemented carbide market suffers from weakening demand, especially in mechanical industry. With tungsten carbide and cobalt powder prices dropping continuously, cemented carbide suppliers have to lower prices to attract deals.Asian Metal Copyright2-39.Asian Metal Copyright

An official from a major cemented carbide smelter in Zhejiang, with a monthly output of 30-40t previously, revealed that they reduced output to 15-18t per month since October due to weak demand.

According to the source, demand for cutting tools weakens more sharply compared with that of mining tools and oil drilling tools, because under the global economic crisis mechanical industry is badly affected, while concentrate mining and oil exploring industries go on better.

With tungsten carbide and cobalt powder prices keeping going down, the source revealed that prices of cemented carbide blanks YG8 used for cutting tools have dropped to RMB260-270/kg (USD38.2-39.7/kg) this week, down from RMB280-290/kg (USD41.Asian Metal Copyright2kg, whose current prices are RMB160kg USD23.Asian Metal Copyright1-42.6/kg) in the past two weeks, and prices of cemented carbide blanks YG8 used for mining tools decrease to RMB240-250/kg (USD35.Asian Metal Copyright7kg, down from RMB300kg USD44.Asian Metal Copyright3-36.8/kg), down by RMB10-20/kg (USD1.Asian Metal Copyright1kg respectively,” said the source, adding that they suffer great losses as prices of cemented carbide blanks YG8 used for cutting tools have been to RMB260-270kg USD38.Asian Metal Copyright5-2.9/kg) compared with those two weeks ago.Asian Metal Copyright7kg, down from RMB300kg USD44.Asian Metal Copyright

A cemented carbide producer in Hunan, with a monthly output of 6t, reduced output to 3t in November as many of their customers have cut purchasing volumes since October.

“We now use the medium-granular tungsten carbide and cobalt powder purchased at RMB207/kg (USD30.4/kg) and RMB600/kg (USD88.2/kg), whose current prices are RMB160/kg (USD23.5/kg) and RMB300/kg (USD44.1/kg) respectively,” said the source, adding that they suffer great losses as prices of cemented carbide blanks YG8 used for cutting tools have been to RMB260-270/kg (USD38.Asian Metal Copyright1-42.Asian Metal Copyright2-39.7/kg), down from RMB300/kg (USD44.1/kg) one month ago.Asian Metal Copyright2kg, whose current prices are RMB160kg USD23.Asian Metal Copyright

The source thinks cemented carbide will not recover by the end of this year, and consumers may not replenish stockpiles in the near future. “They have purchased enough raw materials for December’s production and are not ready to purchase for next year’s delivery,” said the source.