Tungsten Facts

Tungsten is used in super alloys for the aerospace and other high tech industries, e.g. in the turbines of rockets and jet engines; it is the filament in all incandescent light bulbs and used in most fluorescents; it is used in armor plate and armor piercing ammunition; and the cutting tools, pictured above, that are used to machine products from automotive engine blocks to dental drills. Tungsten carbide tooling is critical to mining and drilling as well as road construction. About 65% of USA tungsten consumption is used in the manufacture of new tungsten carbide.

China has approximately 60% of the world’s known tungsten reserves, Russia has 8% and Canada 12%  the USA and South America 4% each. Last year China produced 86% of the mined tungsten, world wide.

China is also the world’s largest tungsten consumer. In 2005, the Chinese Government, in order to conserve its resources and meet increasing domestic demand, limited tungsten production and exports while increasing tungsten imports. These policies spiked the price of tungsten and the price of scrap carbide and are expected to continue.

Last year, tungsten recycling from scrap accounted for 31% of tungsten consumption by USA processors and end users. The rest was imported; 43% of the import was from China and 25% from Russia.