global tungsten market is projected to reach 91 thousand metric tons by the year 2012.

Though tungsten demand is persistently growing owing to rapid development in national defense, civil and war industries throughout the globe, increase in supply shortage has become a major growth dampener for the distinctive metal. Prices increased sharply in recent years. End users largely depend on China, which represents over 85% of worldwide tungsten supply. The leading global producer of tungsten is China followed by Russia, Canada, Austria, Bolivia, and Portugal. China supplies a major portion of tungsten to the US. China is also the largest stockpile for tungsten in the world accounting for over 55% of world reserves. Of late, China significantly reduced exports of tungsten due to its growing domestic requirements and restrictions on exports of certain metals, which included tungsten. Therefore, growth of tungsten market depends largely on new discoveries and explorations.

Asia-Pacific (including China & Japan) represents the largest and the fastest growing tungsten market in the world and is projected to cross 45 thousand metric tons by the year 2010, as stated by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Among end-use sectors, chemicals represent the fastest growing market for tungsten with a compounded annual rate of over 8% during the 2001-2010 analysis period, while hard metals/cement carbides end-use segment represents the largest market and is projected to reach 48 thousand metric tons by the year 2010.

Exports from China and the CIS to Japan, Western Europe and United States represent key trade flows. During the last decade, pattern of tungsten trade switched from tungsten ores and concentrates to intermediate materials such as ammonium paratungstate (APT), oxides and ferrotungsten. Low prices for tungsten spurred producers to develop and export downstream products.

As cemented tungsten carbide is satisfying changing technical demands in milling and turning operations, it is considered a key material for cutting-tool inserts. Ceramic-metallic compounds and ceramics are being produced and used as replacements for cemented tungsten carbide in order to fulfill varying market demands. Demand for more distinctive metal, tungsten, is persistently growing owing to rapid development in national defense, civil and war industries throughout the globe. However, supply-demand curve in tungsten market is not likely to widen in the upcoming years and the market is not expected to witness a continued period of severe supply shortages.