In the early spring of 2026, while base metals like copper and aluminum were still hesitant due to the changing macroeconomic climate, a seemingly obscure metal—tungsten—was quietly rewriting history. From mines in southern Jiangxi to smelters in Hunan, an unprecedented price surge was unfolding. By mid-February, the average price of domestic black tungsten concentrate (65%) had exceeded 700,000 yuan/ton, an increase of over 50% since the beginning of the year. Looking back to 2023, this price had nearly quadrupled in just over two years.

This “jump” pattern is vividly reflected in the data. Data from China Tungsten Online shows that on February 9, 2026, 65% black tungsten concentrate was priced at 685,000 yuan/standard ton, a 48.9% increase from the beginning of the year; ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices even officially broke the million-yuan mark, reaching 1 million yuan/ton, a 49.3% increase from the beginning of the year. Just two days later, on February 11th, prices for wolframite concentrate had climbed to 697,000 yuan per ton, and after the Chinese New Year, prices directly exceeded 700,000 yuan per ton, once again breaking historical records.

More than a decade later, another metal is quietly taking center stage—tungsten. This metal, with a melting point as high as 3422℃, is known as the “teeth of industry” due to its extraordinary hardness, playing an irreplaceable role in semiconductor lithography machines, aero-engine turbine blades, and nuclear fusion devices. Even more astonishingly, China accounts for 58% of global tungsten reserves and 82% of global production, mirroring the situation with rare earths in the past. At the forefront of semiconductor manufacturing, tungsten is playing a crucial “threading” role.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, currently the most advanced chip manufacturing tools, require their core mirrors to be coated with five layers of nanoscale tungsten film to withstand the impact of high-energy lasers and maintain extremely high reflectivity. A single EUV machine consumes as much as 300 kilograms of tungsten. Furthermore, in the micro-manufacturing process of chips, tungsten compounds are used to produce molybdenum target materials required for semiconductor manufacturing, while synthetic diamonds (whose production and processing also rely on tungsten-based superhard materials) are used in the high-precision grinding and cutting processes of chips. It can be said that without a stable supply of tungsten, the cutting-edge processes of the semiconductor industry would face the risk of stagnation. Breakthroughs in new energy technologies also heavily rely on tungsten. In hydrogen fuel cells, bipolar plates require tungsten-based composite material coatings to cope with harsh corrosive environments and ensure long-term operational reliability. In the more promising field of solid-state batteries, tungsten-based composite materials are also an ideal choice for current collectors. Even more noteworthy is the photovoltaic industry, where the diamond wire busbars used for cutting silicon wafers are rapidly shifting from carbon steel wire to tungsten wire. Thanks to their higher strength and finer diameter, tungsten wires can effectively reduce cutting losses and increase silicon wafer yield. Data shows that the penetration rate of photovoltaic tungsten wires has jumped from 20% to 60%, with approximately 8 tons of tungsten consumed per GW of silicon wafers, becoming a new engine for tungsten demand growth.