Tungsten market15 Jun 2026 10:01
A snippet from an article relating to the tungsten shortage.
"China mines 80% of the world's tungsten, and its traders are still cold-calling American scrapyards offering five times market price for worn-out drill bits. The U.S. hasn't mined the metal since 2015
Selling scrap metal has never been a glamorous way to earn a living. You weigh in worn-out drill bits, dull saw blades and chewed-up milling cutters, somebody pays you by the pound, and everyone gets on with their day. But since early 2025, American dealers sitting on bins of old tungsten carbide have been fielding offers that sound like prank calls. The buyers are Chinese scrap traders, and according to a Financial Times report picked up by MINING.com this week, some of them are offering up to five times the normal market rate for material that used to move as junk."