China’s tungsten concentrate firms on restocking, tight supply
Shanghai 03 March 2010 08:52
Chinese tungsten concentrate prices have climbed 500-1000 yuan ($73-146) per tonne this week on the back of better domestic demand for ammonium paratungstate (APT) and ferro-tungsten, combined with insufficient supply.
Tungsten concentrate is trading at 75,000-76,000 per tonne, up from 74,500-75,000 yuan last week.
“You can't find anything below 75,000 yuan [per tonne] now, and we just bought some material at 76,000 on Monday,” a buyer in Hunan province told MB, adding that he heard some offers this week had gone as high as 78,000 yuan.
Demand from the APT and ferro-tungsten sector is improving as most market participants are back in business after the Chinese New Year holiday and are restocking, said producers.
“Sales are better in the local market than overseas, and prices are up a bit from pre-holiday,” said a producer in Jiangxi.
Supply of tungsten concentrate has been tightened as tungsten miners limit the use of explosives while important political gatherings take place in Beijing.
China normally restricts explosives use and distribution to avoid accidents that could overshadow high-profile events. The full annual session of the National People's Congress opens this Friday in Beijing.
Few exports were reported, with APT at $210-213 per mtu fob and ferro-tungsten at around $30.5-31.5 per kg fob China.
“We haven’t concluded any major deals on APT this week as we hear some foreign buyers are turning to spot material from overseas warehouse, which are priced slightly lower than ours,” a major trader in Beijing told MB.
