Recently, the global cemented carbide market is experiencing a dramatic price fluctuation, among which tungsten carbide, as the core raw material of cemented carbide, has seen a particularly significant price increase. Since the beginning of 2025, the price of tungsten carbide powder has continued to rise. As of 22nd, July, it has soared to 400 yuan/kg, an increase of 23.3% from the beginning of the year. This price trend not only affects the nerves of cemented carbide manufacturers, but also has a profound impact on the entire upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
The continued contraction of the supply side is the primary factor driving the rise in tungsten carbide prices. Domestically, my country’s first batch of tungsten mining quotas in 2025 were only 58,000 tons, a sharp drop of 6.45% year-on-year, the largest drop in five years. As the main tungsten ore producing areas, Jiangxi, Hunan and other places have maintained a quota utilization rate of only 70%-80%, and with the implementation of the rectification plan of the Central Environmental Protection Inspection Team, many small and medium-sized mines have been forced to suspend or reduce production due to non-compliance with environmental protection standards or excessive transformation costs. Taking Hunan as an example, the production of mineral processing and smelting in some areas is restricted, resulting in a sharp decline in the output of tungsten concentrate. At the same time, although the import volume of tungsten ore in the first quarter surged by 40% year-on-year, it is difficult to effectively release the overseas increase in the short term. For example, key projects such as the Bakuta mine in Kazakhstan are expected to take 2-3 years to achieve large-scale production due to the long construction period, which is difficult to alleviate the current tight supply situation.
The explosive growth on the demand side has further aggravated the contradiction between supply and demand in the tungsten carbide market. In the military industry, with the global armament upgrade and the advancement of the European “Fatian Plan”, the demand for high-end tungsten materials has shown a blowout trend. In addition, the construction of emerging scientific and technological projects such as nuclear fusion test reactors has also brought new growth points to the tungsten material market. It is estimated that the annual demand for tungsten materials for such projects is as high as 3,000 tons, accounting for about 5% of the global tungsten consumption. In the civilian field, the rapid development of the photovoltaic industry has led to a sharp increase in the demand for tungsten filaments as key consumables, and the penetration rate of photovoltaic tungsten filaments has continued to increase, further driving the demand for tungsten carbide.
Policy factors also played an important role in the price increase of tungsten carbide. On July 1, the newly revised “Mineral Resources Law of the People’s Republic of China” was officially implemented. The law lists tungsten as a strategic mineral resource and implements a more stringent protective mining system. This move not only increases the environmental protection costs and compliance requirements of tungsten mining companies, but also further strengthens the market’s expectations of tightening tungsten supply, pushing up the price of tungsten carbide. In addition, my country’s export control measures on key tungsten products such as ammonium paratungstate and tungsten carbide have also exacerbated the tight supply situation in the international market to a certain extent, prompting a sharp rise in international tungsten prices, which in turn spread to the domestic market.
For foreign trade companies engaged in the sale of cemented carbide, the continued rise in tungsten carbide prices has undoubtedly brought huge cost pressure. In order to meet this challenge, companies need to actively communicate with suppliers on the one hand to strive for a more stable supply of raw materials and reasonable price terms; on the other hand, they also need to maintain close communication with downstream customers to jointly explore strategies to deal with price increases, such as reasonably adjusting product prices and optimizing product structure. At the same time, enterprises should also increase investment in technology research and development and innovation, reduce dependence on single raw materials such as tungsten carbide by improving production efficiency and developing new materials, and enhance their ability to resist risks in market fluctuations.
Looking ahead, in the short term, the price of tungsten carbide may maintain a volatile trend in the current high range. Due to mining quota restrictions, environmental protection policy constraints and slow release of new production capacity, it is difficult to quickly ease the tension on the supply side, which will still provide strong support for prices; although the demand on the demand side is strong in some areas, downstream companies are affected by high costs and cautious in purchasing sentiment, and global economic uncertainty factors have a certain inhibitory effect on traditional industrial demand, which limits the upward space of prices. It is expected that in the next 1-2 quarters, the price of tungsten carbide powder will most likely fluctuate in the range of 350-400 yuan/kg.
From a medium-term perspective (1-3 years), with the continued expansion of emerging industries such as photovoltaics, new energy vehicles and military industry, the demand for tungsten carbide is expected to maintain a steady growth trend. If there is no significant improvement on the supply side during the period, such as overseas large-scale mining projects fail to be put into production as expected, or there is no significant adjustment in domestic mining policies, the price of tungsten carbide will gradually rise driven by demand. However, in this process, in order to cope with cost pressure, enterprises in the industry may accelerate technological innovation and product structure optimization, partially alleviate the dependence on tungsten carbide, and to a certain extent suppress price increases. It is expected that the average annual price increase may be around 10%-15%.
In the long term (more than 3 years), the scarcity of global tungsten ore resources will become more prominent. With the continuous exploitation of tungsten ore resources, high-quality ore sources are gradually decreasing, and mining costs continue to rise. In addition, as countries pay more attention to strategic mineral resources, the control of the supply side will be more stringent. On the demand side, the demand for tungsten carbide in emerging technology fields will continue to expand, such as the gradual opening of potential application scenarios such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence hardware manufacturing, and its price is expected to continue the upward trend. But at the same time, with the advancement of technology, if new materials that can replace some of the performance of tungsten carbide are produced on a large scale, or if major breakthroughs are made in the recycling technology of tungsten carbide, which greatly improves the recycling rate, the rising slope of tungsten carbide prices may be alleviated. Overall, under the dual effects of the global resource strategy and technological development, the long-term upward trend of tungsten carbide prices is difficult to reverse, but the fluctuation range may change due to technological changes. Enterprises related to the cemented carbide industry need to be fully prepared, actively respond to the challenges brought about by price increases, and seize new opportunities in industry changes.
Latest Tungsten Carbide Price
