Cemented carbides or hard metals are a mature class of powder metallurgical liquid phase sintered composite materials consisting of at least one hard and wear resistant phase (in the majority of cases this being tungsten carbide (WC) and a ductile and softer metallic phase from the Iron group of metals (mainly cobalt and its alloys).

The invention of cemented carbides dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, and is generally attributed to Karl Schröter who disclosed his invention in 1923 in a patent application [1]. The first products were wire drawing dies and these were quickly followed by cutting tools for the machine tool industry.

Cemented carbides today form the backbone of the tool manufacturing industry with such diverse applications as machining of metallic and non metallic materials, chipless forming (wire drawing, can tooling, forging, stamping, mill rolls, powder compacting punches and dies, high pressure dies and anvils), mining (oil well drill bits, rock drill bits), industrial nozzles (sand blasting, water jet cutting, painting, glue dispensers) industrial wear parts (dental and medical tools), paper, plastic and textile knives, guide rolls, seal rings, road planning knives, tire studs, forestry tools, earth moving and consolidation tools), and for functional applications (watch cases and bracelets).

The smallest carbide part weighing a fraction of a gram is the tip of a ball point pen (produced in billions per year) and the largest parts like rolls and dies weighing up to a ton (produced in hundreds annually). The current annual consumption of cemented carbide worldwide is estimated to be in the range of 60,000 tons (see Global Market Review, also published in the IPMD 13th Edition for more information), and the high growth rate in demand is being fuelled by China.

The 100th anniversary of the discovery of tungsten deposits in China was celebrated in 2007 and China boasts of about two thirds of all currently known ore deposits of tungsten in the world.