China's Tungsten Export Curbs Send AI PCB Drill Bit Prices Up Several-Fold as APT Tops RMB 530,000
China's export controls on tungsten have disrupted micro drill bit supply for PCBs and chip substrates and sent prices up several-fold, Nikkei reported, with the APT benchmark climbing from about RMB 212,750 per tonne in February 2025 to more than RMB 530,000 and China holding roughly 79 percent of global mine output.
The least visible component in an AI server, the tungsten-carbide micro drill bit that bores the vias in PCBs and chip substrates, has become the newest chokepoint in the hardware supply chain. According to Nikkei, China's export controls on tungsten and other critical metals have disrupted refiners in Japan, Taiwan, the United States and Europe, sending drill bit prices soaring several times over. US Geological Survey data cited by the report puts China at roughly 79 percent of global tungsten mine output in 2025, and suppliers including Sumitomo Electric, Kyocera, Mitsubishi Materials, Kennametal and Sandvik still depend on refined tungsten from China.
The price signal is unambiguous. Ammonium paratungstate, the industry's key pricing benchmark, has risen from about RMB 212,750 per metric tonne in February 2025 to more than RMB 530,000 in the week of the report, SMM data cited by Nikkei shows, a gain of roughly 150 percent. Market Pulse Scope's own China series tracks APT at CNY 540,000 per tonne, up 3.85 percent this week, with scheelite concentrate at CNY 367,000 and wolframite at CNY 368,000, both up more than 5 percent.
AI server hardware is amplifying the demand shock. Taiwan drill maker Topoint Technology said thicker, multilayer AI server boards now consume four to five drill bits per set, up from about three previously, and it is developing longer bits with higher aspect ratios as layer counts climb. Chinese capacity is racing to fill the gap: Shenzhen Jinzhou Precision, a subsidiary of China Tungsten High-Tech, has launched six expansion projects since 2025 expected to add nearly 800 million micro drill bits of annual capacity, per China Nonferrous Metals News.
For AI hardware buyers the squeeze lands on top of an already stressed bill of materials, where memory and advanced packaging costs are also rising. Drill bits are a small line item but a hard one to substitute, and with export licensing now gating every tonne of refined tungsten leaving China, tool prices look set to stay elevated for as long as the controls remain in force.