These two posts explain the increase in interest in the UK
Post by satnav on the III BB ------------- Exclusive to [1]Tungsten Investing News [1]
[2]China has had a long standing monopoly [3] on the tungsten market, and has taken some questionable moves to maintain their domination of the market. Currently, the country produces about 85 percent of the world's tungsten production. In the past, when western nations have increased tungsten production, China has opened up their exports, flooding the markets, and effectively devaluing the metal and forcing western producers to stop production.
Over the past few months, China has made a few key moves that will likely culminate in rising tungsten prices. The latest move involves China declaring tungsten a strategic metal, which means that the country will no longer offer any tax breaks, and instead will tax exports. Last March, the Asian nation announced that no new miner permits would be issued until mid 2011. The country also openly declared that it would curb domestic production to 80,000 tonnes per year. Its annual consumption of the metal is roughly 25,000 tonnes. The next largest consumer, the United States, requires around 11,000 tonnes per annum.
While China reins-in output, the global demand picture is improving. Tungsten's most notable uses include light bulbs and aerospace technology. Tungsten is a wear-resistant metal that is used heavily in mining and manufacturing. It seems clear that as the economy improves, tungsten will be in demand. With China accounting for 85 percent of production, their cutback in output will mostly likely result in rising prices for the metal. Forecasters estimate that APT prices will hit $300 per mtu by 2012.
Chinese tungsten ore price moves closer to record March 2011
Chinese tungsten concentrate prices rose even faster this week after major mines announced a near 10% jump in contract prices for March. Jiangxi Tungsten Industry Group, China�s largest tungsten producer has raised its monthly contract price for concentrate to 128,000 yuan ($19,473) per tonne for March, up 9.4% or 11,000 yuan from their February price. Hunan Shizhuyuan tungsten mine and Jiangxi Ganzhou Tungsten Assn also raised their March prices to...
Tungsten is expected to have supply shortage issues in 2011 stemming from export restrictions from China. Due to supply issues the metal has been placed on a list of CRITICAL STRATEGIC metals by the U.S. and the European Union. Yesterday, China's second largest tungsten producer, Jiangxi Tungsten announced that it will shut down their plant for 3 months for a regular overhaul of the facility. This decrease in supply will put further pressure on supply in the first half of this year and may affect prices that are already around record levels. The price of tungsten APT has risen 81 percent year over year, from US$185 per MTU to its current price of $335 per MTU. �Tungsten concentrate is trading at 111,000-113,000 yuan ($16,742-17,043) per tonne on Wednesday, with prices in the higher end rising 1,000 yuan from last week,� stated Metal Bulletin.
The decrease in supply from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to the conflict minerals bill passed by the U.S. government is also another factor to consider for supply-demand fundamentals in this market. The call for tracing the source of minerals in conflict zones has hit a road block due to a lack of funding. �We were already working to tight timescales with no untraceable material being acceptable to the markets after April 1", stated Kay Nimmo, sustainability and regulatory affairs manager for the International Tin Research Institute. While the decrease in supply from the DRC is minor, as the nation only accounts for 2 to 4 percent of world supply, every bit adds to the tightness of supply chains. ------------- Posted by movin on up on the III BB ------------- Molyhill has a measured, indicated and inferred tungsten resource with a value of �500,000,000 at the current mtu price of around �132
measured 540,000 t indicated 2,300,000 t inferred 900,000 t
Even based on just the measured tungsten resource, the value is �71m - and that is even BEFORE we add in the value of Dundas!!
Thinking of investing? Well, Thor has a current mcap of around �17m - you do the maths! --------------- The interest in the UK is based on more than just hype.
TDT
THR Price at posting:
5.4¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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