Tungsten [W]

Hard Metals and Steel Alloy: 81 percent of end-use

Tungsten Applications

• Heavy machinery and specialty alloys
• Jet light
• Turbine engines and light-bulb filaments
• Sporting goods (golf clubs, tennis racquets).
• Electronics
• Pipelines
• Mining & construction materials.

China world tungsten production: 86 percent

• Total world production 89,600 tpa of metal.
• China: imposing export quotas and increasing imports of tungsten.*
• The rapid increase in demand in China tightened raw material availability to other markets.

US domestic tungsten source

• The entirely dependant on imports and US Strategic stockpileUS is stockpile.
• Companies outside China with tungsten exposure are few and far between.
• 2007, US tungsten imports 11,500 tonnes from mainly: China, Canada, Bolivia and Portugal.

China demand growth

• US account for 13% of total tungsten consumption. Source: (USGS)
• Global Industry Analyst, Inc : China's own use of tungsten was growing at 8 percent per year.
• China is the world's largest tungsten consumer.
• Chinese industries demand tungsten and authorities are keen to ensure uninterrupted supply.