WO3 producer...TungstenMon, Jun 7, 2010
By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Tungsten Investing News
0diggsShareChina’s tungsten market monopoly is often blamed for the metal’svolatility, but in the case of a post-recession rebound, the monopolyappears to be a good thing.
The rapid growth in the Asian country’s economy has led it to beingthe top consumer and producer of the strategic metal. To conserve itsresources and meet increasing domestic demand, the Chinese governmenthas limited tungsten production and exports while increasing imports oftungsten. China dominates world tungsten supply; production outside ofChina has been quite limited, and international producers have accusedChina of dumping in efforts to maintain their monopoly.
While international producers have been at the mercy of China,recently, the country’s monopoly has done some good for the overalltungsten market. A tightening of concentrate availability in China hasresulted in a rapid price ascent. The metal has almost hit pre-recessionlevels with APT breaching $235 per tonne, the metals March 2008 peakwas just above $250. Ferro-tungsten was holding steady at $29/30 per kg,which is the highest since November 2008, since hitting a low of $22 inDecember 2008.