Tungsten — A Complete Market Guide (2026)

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0200

Data as of 22 September 2026. Prices are quoted as multi-year and full-year averages, not a single day’s snapshot, so this report stays useful over time. Reserves, production splits, balances and historical series are estimates from agency and industry data, rounded for clarity. This report is for information only and was prepared with AI assistance — see the disclaimer at the end.

Tungsten is the metal that cuts every other metal. It has the highest melting point of any metal and, bonded to carbon as tungsten carbide, it becomes the working edge of nearly every drill bit, milling insert and mining tool on Earth — and the dense core of armour-piercing munitions. The tungsten market is also the clearest single-country market in commodities: China mines about four-fifths of the world’s tungsten and refines about 85% of its key intermediate, and in February 2025 Beijing put tungsten products under export licensing. The benchmark’s monthly average more than doubled during 2025 alone, from $331 to $862/mtu. This report is the free, big-picture primer on how the tungsten market actually works — where the metal comes from, how it is priced without an exchange, who controls it, what it is used for, and which regimes favour it. For the company-level data behind the charts — producers and developers screened by production, resources and cost — go to Metal Pilot.

Tungsten on Metal Pilot Blog

Tungsten — A Complete Market Guide (2026)