The global tungsten market has entered a time of regional policy changes and strategic shifts in supply that are beginning to change pricing dynamics. In China, policy pressures and stable industrial demand have contained prices at elevated levels, even though near-term activity is modest. In the United States, domestic tungsten supply and shipments from Rwanda are pushing a fortification of industrial tungsten use with increased funding from the Defense Department working to re-establish domestic capacity. These factors represent a market balancing short-term caution with long-term strategic urgency and highlight a new opportunity for supply-chain reorientation and renewed investor interest.
Key Highlights:
Chinese Tungsten prices recorded significant stability in September 2025, rising 0.5% as the market reconciled near-term weakness with fundamentally bullish structuring. Chinese policy-led supply restrictions and sustained industrial and strategic demand created a solid floor price, and a soft correction represented rational adjustment of the market and not a dramatic downturn.
The supply context was unbalanced, with overall conditions being somewhat loose but offset by weak willingness among suppliers to supply deep discounts. Uncertainty regarding domestic ore policies and strong global competition for priority minerals kept sellers hesitant. The virgin tungsten ore market remained liquid and moderate shipment sizes were taken up by traders and downstream consumers, but intermediate product markets were flat, with APT and tungsten powder being traded significantly flat.
Demand conditions were characterized by caution as downstream consumers in alloy, automotive, and machinery industries concentrated on processing inventories and recent price fluctuations. Purchasing was still constrained and bargaining power tilted toward buyers. A small pre-holiday stocking increase did not manage to change the overall wait-and-see attitude, and speculative fervor that helped fuel previous rallies lost significantly.
Albeit near-term lukewarm, long-term fundamentals continue to be strengthened by varied industrial uses and strategic applications in aerospace, defense, and clean energy technologies. Scarcity of resources and persistent end-use demand are driving a cautiously optimistic view for tungsten prices.
US tungsten prices dropped 1.7% as supply appeared to stabilize with the newly arriving shipments from Rwanda. The inaugural shipment of tungsten concentrates from Trinity Metals' Nyakabingo mine reached Global Tungsten and Powders' Towanda, Pennsylvania facility, commencing processing into high-grade tungsten and tungsten carbide powders for industrial component production under the August commercial contract.
Policy and public investment are transforming the domestic tungsten environment. The US Department of Defense has increased spending on US and allied critical mineral development, such as a $6.2 million grant under the Defense Production Act to Golden Metal Resources for the Pilot Mountain project in Nevada. Pilot Mountain is the largest untapped tungsten deposit in the United States and is at the forefront of plans to rebuild domestic supply in advance of stricter sourcing regulations.
Recent U.S. legislation now prohibits the Pentagon from buying tungsten and other key materials from rival nations like China and Russia, with the limit imposed as early as the mining stage by January 2027. Concurrent private-sector developments are the IMA Mine Project in Lemhi County, Idaho, and increasing interest in junior U.S. tungsten developers as part of efforts to cut back on China's dominant share of the market.
With production efforts advancing and processing capacity expanding, tungsten's strategic position in defense systems, high-tech applications, and industrial uses will expand, backing long-term supply chain strength.
