Price of Tungsten Products on June. 21, 2019

       As the price of ore is getting closer to the cost price, the willingness of mining enterprises to ship is not strong. In addition, smelting enterprises are not purchasing much in the plan to stop production in succession. This week panic small shipment of tungsten lower overall market price phenomenon has occasionally appeared, 80 thousand less than 55 degrees of tungsten ore has heard the deal, is expected to follow the price next week. But with mine prices approaching their lowest levels in two years, combined with recent rain-affected or reduced mine output, and the reluctance of miners to sell more or less showing up, there may not be much further to go.

After China’s spot tungsten concentrate price fell below a level widely considered to be the break-even point for most producers in the country, many in the market has expected the price to bottom up.

But the price has defied this expectation and continues on a downward trend, most recently reaching its lowest since July 2017. Some in the market pointed to an abundance of supply as the reason behind the price’s persistent weakness, stating that the dynamic will likely continue in the short term. 

Around 20 of China’s approximately 39 smelters have been temporarily shut, with the remaining APT smelters operating at an average production rate of just 49%, according to market sources. But some in the market are still skeptical that these cuts are sufficient to boost China’s APT price in the near term.

APT producers have had to reduce production due to a lack of new orders, which indicates a lack of demand for APT. This means that the market has excess capacity at the moment. The point at which demand exceeds supply has not yet come. In the short term, APT price would continue to decline.