Tungsten Concentrates Surge Past CNY 370,000 as Ganzhou Guidance Prices and Mine Auctions Tighten Spot
Tungsten concentrate prices rose more than 7 percent this week with 55-percent material approaching RMB 370,000 per standard tonne, after Ganzhou industry bodies and major producers issued firmer November guidance prices and strong mine-site auctions drained low-priced material from the spot market.
China's tungsten concentrate market staged one of its sharpest weekly gains of the year, with Chinatungsten Online assessing a rise of more than 7 percent for the week to November 6 and 55-percent WO3 concentrate approaching RMB 370,000 per standard tonne. The move is visible in the producer quotes: Zhangyuan Tungsten set its first-half November guidance at RMB 375,000 per standard tonne for 55-percent black tungsten concentrate and RMB 374,000 for scheelite, up RMB 31,000, or roughly 9 percent, from its second-half October levels, while ammonium paratungstate guidance jumped RMB 50,000, or 10 percent, to RMB 550,000 per tonne.
The trigger was a cluster of supply-side signals out of Ganzhou, Jiangxi, the heart of the concentrate trade. On November 5, industry organizations and major tungsten enterprises in Ganzhou issued guidance prices that signaled stability rather than further downside, prompting spot quotes to align with those benchmarks, while strong transaction prices at mine-site auctions reinforced confidence among concentrate holders, according to Chinatungsten Online. Smelters are running at low operating rates and suppliers are increasingly inclined to hold inventory, trimming the availability of lower-priced material and pushing APT to stabilize around RMB 550,000 per tonne.
International assessments confirm the move. Shanghai Metals Market's minor-metals page showed wolframite 65-percent concentrate at USD 48,977 per standard tonne on November 6, up about USD 1,092 on the day, with scheelite grades up by similar margins. Market Pulse Scope's own China series mirrors the squeeze, with scheelite concentrate at CNY 367,000 per tonne, up 5.36 percent on the week, wolframite at CNY 368,000, up 5.34 percent, and APT at CNY 540,000, up 3.85 percent.
The rally extends a year-long repricing of the metal that has pushed APT from roughly RMB 212,750 per tonne in February 2025 to more than RMB 530,000 now, against a background in which China accounts for close to 80 percent of global mine output. With downstream buyers cautious and liquidity thin, traders say the market is trading on immediate demand, and the risk to the current level is a wave of profit-taking from concentrate holders rather than any near-term supply relief.