Trending Upwards--Tungsten in same boat as rare earths - Malaga CEO

摘要

Prices for tungsten are rising "almost weekly" and the metal finds itself in almost an identical economic situation to that of rare-earth elements, with burgeoning demand and shrinking exports from China, the biggest producer, Malaga chairperson and CEO Jean Martineau said last week. The metal, also called wolfram, with the chemical symbol W, is mainly used to make wear-resistant abrasives and cutters for machinery in the automotive industry, and drill bits for oil exploration. Martineau said that, as is the case with rare-earth elements, China flooded the market with cheap tungsten concentrate in the 1980s and the 1990s, which led to an over-supply, with prices low enough to squeeze out nearly all non-Chinese production.