Photo: An employee works on the cemented carbide precision cutting tool production line in Jing'an County Industrial Park, Jiangxi Province. Tungsten is widely used in the cemented carbide cutting tool.
BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's tungsten industry has turned around with orders from the downstream enterprises arranged into production plan in April and May, Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.
The domestic tungsten prices witnessed a V-shape trend last year as the COVID-19 epidemic dented the downstream demands. The prices remained at a low level until November. Since November last year, the tungsten prices kept rising. The prices have now reached the highest point since March last year.
Recently, Ganzhou Tungsten Industry Association has raised its forecast for prices of wolframite concentrate, ammonium paratungstate, and medium-particle tungsten powder in February.
Specifically, the forecast price of wolframite concentrate has been raised by 4,200 yuan/tonne to 90,000 yuan/tonne, and that of ammonium paratungstate has been raised by 5,800 yuan/tonne to 137,000 yuan/tonne.
According to the Shanghai Securities News, some large tungsten companies have raised the prices of tungsten products several times since November last year.
Xiamen Tungsten (600549.SH) raised its long-term price of ammonium paratungstate by 2,000 yuan/tonne to 134,500 yuan/tonne for early February, and the price has been raised five times since late November, with a cumulative increase of 9,500 yuan/tonne.
Statistics of the Antaike Information, a metal research institute, showed that as of last Friday, prices of wolframite concentrate and ammonium paratungstate had both increased by 5 percent from the beginning of the year.
Power cut and facility overhauls have led to a tight supply of tungsten, while the downstream demands are strong. Under such circumstances, the tungsten prices have maintained a strong growth momentum, said the report.
As the Spring Festival holiday approaches, many mines have suspended production, which has led to a decline in output. Meanwhile, many traders are bullish about the market and reluctant to sell goods before the holiday. Against the background, supply of raw materials in the market continue to be tight, according to www.baiinfo.com, a commodity research institute.
Thanks to the uptrend of tungsten prices, related listed companies have gradually rebounded from the loss.
Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten (002378.SZ) expected its net profits in 2020 to be in a range from 35 million yuan to 52.5 million yuan. It is worth noting that the Shenzhen-listed company saw a loss of about 3.02 million yuan in the first three quarters of 2020. The above figures show that it has improved its performance significantly in the fourth quarter of last year. (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
