The soaring price of tungsten has driven the price of tungsten steel rings for printing consumables to continue to rise

2024-10-25 11:00:25

In the current metal market, tungsten is undoubtedly a shining star. With the recovery of the global economy and the rapid development of new energy and high-end manufacturing, the market demand for tungsten, as an important strategic metal, has shown a strong growth trend. However, at the same time, the soaring price of tungsten has also brought unprecedented challenges to related industries, and the printing consumables of Tungsten steel Rings used in printing equipment, De Frasers, also feel the pressure on the price of tungsten steel rings.

According to data from Jintou.com, tungsten prices have shown a steady upward trend since March this year. On May 24, the price of 65% wolframite concentrate was as high as 156,500 yuan/ton, up 27.76% from 122,500 yuan/ton on January 2 this year, and up 29.88% from 120,500 yuan/ton in the same period last year.

Rise chart of wolframite concentrate in the past 1 month from April 10 to May 24, 2024 (unit: 10,000 yuan/ton)

As can be seen from the chart, in just one month, from 129,500 yuan/ton on April 10 to today's increase of 20.85%, a linear rise, basically a daily increase of 1,000 yuan/ton.

Tungsten, known as the "industrial tooth", not only occupies an important position in the world, but also is a symbol of China's resource advantages. According to public data, China's tungsten ore reserves and production are among the top in the world, of which tungsten ore reserves account for 47% of the world's total, and the output is as high as 84%. It has a wide range of applications, covering many key fields such as transportation, mining, industrial manufacturing, durable parts, energy, and military industry.

There are four main reasons why tungsten prices have risen to a 10-year high:

1. Imbalance between supply and demand

The recent surge in tungsten prices is widely believed to be the result of both supply and demand. In particular, the tightness on the supply side has become the main factor driving up prices. In the first quarter of this year, the average monthly output of tungsten concentrate was about 7500-7800 tons, and the average monthly output in the same period last year was about 9500 tons, and the average monthly output decreased by about 2000 tons compared with the same period last year. At the same time, there has been no significant decrease in demand, and the contradiction between supply and demand is prominent. In addition, the quota of tungsten concentrate this year has been reduced, and on March 19, the Ministry of Natural Resources [2024] Document No. 48 issued a notice on the issuance of the total control index of tungsten ore mining in 2024 (the first batch), and the total mining control index of the first batch of tungsten ore (tungsten trioxide content of 65%) in 2024 is 6.2 tons, involving 15 provinces such as Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, and Anhui, which has also exacerbated the tension in the market.

Second, the main production area of tungsten products entered the month of environmental protection inspection in May

In the face of the tight supply of tungsten resources, improving the utilization rate of recycled tungsten resources is regarded as an effective way to alleviate the shortage. However, despite the rapid development of China's tungsten renewable resource utilization industry, the recycling rate is still lower than the global average of 35%. In the future, it is expected to significantly alleviate the shortage of raw materials in the tungsten industry chain by optimizing the processing technology and improving the utilization rate of recycled tungsten resources.

Third, the photovoltaic industry has increased the use of tungsten

With the growth of tungsten wire production demand for photovoltaics, the overall domestic tungsten consumption increased slightly. Diamond wire is mainly used for cutting hard and brittle materials such as crystalline silicon and sapphire, and is the core consumable in the process of material processing. With the large size and thinning of silicon wafers, the industry is pursuing finer wire diameters and higher efficiency in the cutting process. Traditional diamond wire uses carbon steel as the material, and tungsten diamond wire is expected to replace carbon steel diamond wire as the mainstream because of its physical characteristics such as higher temperature resistance and stronger tensile strength.