China dominates world tungsten output
Tungsten Supply
Tungsten does not occur, byitself, in nature. It is only present in various chemical compounds. Forindustrial purposes, the two most important tungsten-bearing mineralsare wolframite ((Fe,Mn)WO4) - or, as some would like to call itFerberite-Huberite, and scheelite (CaWO4). These are the two mineralsthat are most commonly mined to produce tungsten.
China nowdominates world primary tungsten output. The U.S. Geological Survey's[USGS] estimates for world mine production in 2007 have China producingsome 77,000 tonnes of the metal, 86% of global production.
Source: USG
Note:The Andrew Mine, northeast of Los Angeles, operated by Curtis Tungsten,started shipping tungsten concentrates in October 2007, but figures forthese shipments are not disclosed.
More recent figures publishedby ChinaMarket Report in October this year, however, put the output figurefor 2007 as even higher, at some 80,438 tonnes.
Chinese TungstenConcentrate Output 1996-2007 (Tonnes)
Source: ChinaMetal.com
In addition, the USGScalculates that China's reserve base accounts for some 67% of theworld's total reserve base.
World Tungsten Reserves(Tonnes)
|
Country
|
Reserves
|
Reserve Base
|
|
China
|
1,800,000
|
4,200,000
|
|
Other Countries
|
420,000
|
740,000
|
|
Canada
|
260,000
|
490,000
|
|
Russia
|
250,000
|
420,000
|
|
US
|
140,000
|
200,000
|
|
Bolivia
|
53,000
|
100,000
|
|
Portugal
|
4,700
|
62,000
|
|
North Korea
|
NA
|
35,000
|
|
Austria
|
10,000
|
15,000
|
|
Total
|
2,937,700
|
2,262,000
|
Source: USGS
TungstenDemand
In addition to dominating the world's supply oftungsten, China is also the metal's prime consumer.
Globalconsumption of tungsten in 2007 was 62,879 tonnes, of which Chinaaccounted for 31.55%,or 19,838 tonnes. Its consumption of the metal has more than doubledover the last decade.
Globally, from 1998 to end-2007, consumptionof tungsten grew at 5.37%per annum, with the other significant tungsten consumers being theU.S., Western Europe and Japan.
The USGS puts the apparentconsumption in the U.S. of tungsten (in all forms) during 2007 at anestimated 14,400 tonnes, of which "tungsten contained in scrap consumedby processors and end users represented approximately 31% of apparentconsumption of tungsten in all forms." More recently, reportedconsumption in 2007 has been given by the USGS as 11,100tonnes (tungsten content).
The country's primary supplier,not surprisingly, was China.
Whither Tungsten Now?
Inthe current economic climate, the once-rosy future for tungsten has nowbecome somewhat uncertain. As one tungsten mining company so succinctlydescribes it: "tungsten tracks world-wide economic activity" "Tungstentracks world-wide industrial economic activity." And with theglobal economy currently facing challenges, it is, I believe, only safeto assume that the demand for tungsten will not remain as healthy as ithas recently been.
If prices in the market are anything to go by,this is certainly the case. The prices for both ferrotungsten andammonium paratungstate (APT) have recentlyplummeted.
APT (US$/Tonne)
Source: minormetals.com
APT (US$/Kg)
Source: minormetals.com
It is,therefore, a matter of conjecture as to whether, in the current (andforeseeable) market conditions, the various concerns that, according tothe USGS, are "developing tungsten deposits or reopening inactivetungsten mines in Australia, Canada, China, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Spain,Thailand, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam" will survive and,even if they do, prosper. If, even in the current downturn, Chinacontinues to restrict both the domestic production and export oftungsten, they might. I think it is, though, as yet, too early to tell.
Conclusion
While tungsten may track "worldwideeconomic activity" and currently be somewhat in the doldrums, itremains a strategically important metal for many countries, particularlythe U.S.
Tungsten is stockpiled both in the U.S. and Japan, and,most probably, also in China. In fact, in 2007, together with chromiumand manganese, the metal accounted for 76% of the inventory (by value)of the Defense National Stockpile in the U.S.
However, because ofthe seemingly increasing emphasis by the administration on securingdomestic and "reliable foreign supplies" of strategic materials, theremay be some interesting long-term opportunities on the tungsten supplyside close to home.
Afterword
Althoughscrap may now be considered by many even more of a dirty word than itwas, it should be remembered that, in the case of tungsten, scrap is amajor source of the metal in the U.S. While for the most part privatelyowned, there are still some very efficient specialized metal recoverycompanies out there. And they are still in business.
Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/111302-tungsten-heavy-metal-including-cello