China Tungsten Industry Report 2013-2017
September 3, 2013
According to a recent market research report published by Research in China, China has the highest tungsten reserves in the world, accounting for 59% of the global total. It currently provides around 85% of global tungsten demand every year. In 2012 the total output of tungsten concentrates in China was 140,000 tons, with year-on-year growth of 4.1%.
Jiangxi, Hunan, Henan, Guangxi and Fujian are the major tungsten producing regions in China. In 2012 the total output of tungsten concentrates (WO3 65%) in the above provinces accounted for over 88% of the total output of tungsten concentrates in China, among which, Jiangxi ranked the first with output of tungsten concentrates (WO3 65%) at 46,500 tons.
The leading tungsten processing enterprises in Jiangxi include Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten Co., Ltd, Jiangxi Tungsten Industry Group Co., Ltd, Jiangxi Rare Earth Metals Tungsten Group Co., Ltd., and Jiangxi Xiushui Xianglushan Tungsten Co., Ltd, while in Hunan, the tungsten enterprises are represented by Hunan Nonferrous Metals Holding Group Co., Ltd and Chenzhou Mining Group Co., Ltd. In Fujian there is Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd.
In February 2013 Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd took a 60% stake in Jiangxi Duchang Jinding Tungsten & Molybdenum Mining Co., Ltd in a bid to improve the output of tungsten concentrate upstream. The company had earlier teamed up with China Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals Co., Ltd to invest in two hard alloy manufacturing projects of 3,000 tons/year and 2,000 tons/year respectively which are expected to be put into production in August 2014. In April 2013 Xiamen Tungsten signed a contract in Luoyang to invest in a project for the production of high-performance hard alloy products.
Jiangxi Rare Earth Metals Tungsten Group plans to invest RMB1.54 billion to expand its overall tungsten smelting and processing capacity to a record 57,200 tons. The capacity to produce high end tungsten based products will reach 4,300 tons by the end of 2015.
According to the report most of the tungsten enterprises in China have been upgrading their complete manufacturing chain from ore concentrate to the finished product such as hard alloy tools, and have narrowed the gap in terms of product innovation and product quality compared with foreign enterprises. The hard alloy sector is seen as the key growth area for the future and will help to push up demand for tungsten in China to 110,000 tonnes by 2017.
