China's Tungsten Export Curbs Push Prices Up Sixfold; Japanese Toolmakers Hike Prices Up to 75%

Tungsten prices have surged more than sixfold in a year, as supply-demand tightness continues to intensify. The rare metal, widely used in industrial applications such as cutting tools, has seen its price movements directly affect a number of Japanese non-ferrous metal companies. Sumitomo Electric Industries President Osamu Inoue said imports from China have completely halted. As a result, companies are being forced to adjust prices while accelerating the establishment of recycling systems to stabilize procurement channels.

On the 7th, Sumitomo Electric announced that for orders accepted from October 1, it will implement price increases of up to more than 25% on cutting tool products, with some products also seeing reductions. Another cutting tool maker, OSG, will apply price adjustments of up to 75% on standard tungsten drills for orders accepted from July 1. Mitsubishi Materials has raised prices on superhard materials to more than three times previous levels.

Tungsten has hardness second only to diamond and excellent heat resistance, making it widely used in industrial processing. The current price surge is driven by China's strengthened export controls on dual-use items to Japan, which have tightened supply channels. Facing significantly higher raw material costs, the companies are accelerating the establishment of scrap recycling and reuse mechanisms to reduce reliance on imported materials.