China's tungsten market monopoly is often blamed for the metal's volatility, but in the case of a post-recession rebound, the monopoly appears to be a good thing.

 

The rapid growth in the Asian country's  economy has led it to being the top consumer and producer of the strategic metal. To conserve its resources and meet increasing domestic demand, the Chinese government has limited tungsten production and exports while increasing imports of tungsten. China dominates world tungsten supply; production outside of China has been quite limited, and international producers have accused China of dumping in efforts to maintain their monopoly.

 

While international producers have been at the mercy of China, recently, the country's monopoly has done some good for the overall tungsten market. A tightening of concentrate availability in China has resulted in a rapid price ascent. The metal has almost hit pre-recession levels with APT breaching $235 per tonne, the metals March 2008 peak was just above $250. Ferro-tungsten was holding steady at $29/30 per kg, which is the highest since November 2008, since hitting a low of $22 in December 2008.