FeW market demands increased as most steel mills enhanced raw material purchase volume and the market price still stabilized at RMB195,000-196,000/mt(USD32,500.0-32,666.6/mt). The transaction prices were lower.
Market source indicated that tungsten ore market price had declined to the end, which was almost RMB110,000/mt(USD18,333.3/mt), while market trading situation was thinner than last month. Some tungsten ore suppliers had solved fund problem in January and preferred to keep stock as tungsten ore prices decreased. A FeW supplier in Hunan province said that FeW market deal volume was now on the upswing as domestic steel mills need to keep stock for next year’s production.
At the same time, China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals (CMN) has set its guidance price for black tungsten concentrate of 65% content for the month at 142,000 yuan ($23,256) per tonne, up 2,000 yuan from December. Jiangxi Ganzhou Tungsten Assn on the other hand, has slashed its January average forecast price to 120,000 yuan per tonne, compared with a previous level of 130,000 yuan per tonne. China’s tungsten market received mixed signals this week after two major producers announced contrasting price policies for January. However, market participants showed Minmetals didn’t purchase tungsten ore yet this month and tungsten market was still on weak support.
FeW export market kept calm and thin trading with no market inquiries and export quotation. However, market source indicated that European FeW price would increase for lacking of stock. Most FeW exporters kept wait-and-see attitude.