The ferro-tungsten market has been stagnant in recent weeks, with only a handful of transactions taking place. Last Friday, in China, inactivity translated into a dip in prices. Ferro-tungsten fell to $25.90 a kilogram, down from the recent rate of $28.00 per kilogram.
The tungsten market has been quiet for ’09. Ferro-tungsten prices have been slowly creeping up due to short supply, so it is exploration as usual for the tungsten business. Tungsten exploration outside of China is critical, as the country has a monopoly on the metal used for military and aeronautical equipment.
Chinese ferrotungsten export prices have been creeping up since the conclusion of the spring festival in January. Low prices in the fourth quarter of 2008 pushed many key tungsten producers to stop operations. The same miners have announced, that despite the current trend, they do not plan to resume mining and production in short term.
Amid growing calls for the mining industry to pay increased taxes to help the state with its revenue shortfall, the industry’s chief lobbyist went before lawmakers Monday to start building a case against singling out miners. For full story, click here
European Ferro tungsten prices crept up for the week as buyers drew down inventories in Rotterdam. For a second week in a row, the Lunar New Year Holiday in China meant lack of supplies were coming out of the country.
Many existing producers have either shut down or curtailed output at mines and plants as high costs and low prices bite. For full story, click here
Holiday retail sales were worse than anticipated. The jewelry market was hardest hit, luxury goods sales were down as much as 34%. However, the new Tungsten jewelry market faired exceptionally well over this holiday season.
Shenzhen, the Chinese city that accounts for 60 per cent of China’s total annual exports, is witnessing declining demand for tungsten. In 2007, the latest year for which industry data is available, it shipped $23 million worth of tungsten carbide powder and alloy jewelry.
Tungsten, like all the other metals, has seen a large amount of its value lost in the 2008 market crash. However, some stability has been lent to tungsten due to the fact that China has a monopoly on the market.
Tungsten, like all other metals has witnessed a precipitous price drop. Data coming out of China, producers of around 85% of the world’s tungsten, shows that most of the Chinese Ferro-tungsten makers have either shut down or decreased output.
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