Price of Tungsten

Historically, it might be interesting to note that the price for 1 kg of pure tungsten metal in 1860 was 1400 Deutsche Mark, between 1861 and 1884 it decreased to about 200 Deutsche Mark, and from 1884 only a technical grade existed on the market and ranged between 4 and 12 Deutsche Mark per kg up to 1902 [13.11,3.12]. Meanwhile, its technical importance has grown enormously and the quality of the metal has improved extensively, but the current price of DM 30 per kg of tungsten powder is not so different from that of 1900 if we take into accoimt inflation since 1900, it is quite cheaper  

In contrast to many other metals, no terminal maiket quotations exist for tungsten ore. Sales are negotiated between either producers and consumers, or merchants and users. 

The London Metal Bulletin (LMB) publishes twice a week a price for wolfinmite ore concentrate. This published price reflects concluded transactions of the previous half week reported by producers, consumers, and traders. The price quotation is presented as a range between high and low, and is related to relatively clean standard-grade wolframite ore concentrate ( 65% WO3). The content of dangerous impurities (P, As, S, Ca), as well as lower WO3 concentrations, decrease the price (for example, if the concentration of Ca exceeds 1%). Most likely, Ca is contained as scheelite and will depress the digestion yield. 

The LMB quotation is based on a relatively small percentage of world production (about 10%). Internationally, tungsten trading prices are indicated in US /MTU WO3 for wolframite ore concentrates. MTU means Metric Ton Unit and corresponds to 10 kg WO3. In the USA, prices indicated in US /STU are quite common. STU stands for Short Ton Unit , equaling 20 lb WO3. 

Price quotations for ferrotungsten are published by the London Metal Bulletin and by Metalsweek N.Y., in US /kg W. Prices for scheelite ore concentrates always orientate around the wolframite price. Besides these price quotations, since 1989 quotations for APT have also been published (in MTU for Europe and STU for USA). Different price quotations for USA and Europe exist, because the US. market is somewhat stronger an not as competitive. 

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Eig. 2. Mean l ondon Metal bulletin price of tungsten concentrate by year. 

Loss by discard is mainly a matter of strict organization and today is not only a question of the price of tungsten. Typical examples for discard are noncollectable carbide products, burned out lamps and lighting fixtures, welding electrode stubs, electrical contact disks, carbide hard-facing materials, etc. 

Due to the drastic fall in the price of tungsten, almost all MEC mines were closed. Figure 13.3 presents the price of tungsten for the period from 1960 to 1996 while the dates of important mine closures are indicated. This diagram is also of special interest because in some cases it allows a rough calculation of the break-even point of the mines. Mittersill mine is excluded from these examples, because its excellent economy is based on full integration from the mine to highly pure W and WC powders, while Panasqueira mine s special economy is due to the presence of Sn in the ore. 

Until 1977, one can state that supply and demand dictated the price of tungsten. However, from then on the price control mechanism was no longer effective. Although annual tungsten consumption within the period from 1977 to 1989 increased fiirflier from <40,0001 W to 52,0001 W, the price fell continuously. Several circumstances were responsible for the new situation. 

The collapse of the communist world together with the sudden fall in worldwide tungsten consumption lead to the historical minimum of the price of tungsten in 1993. Since then, there has been a slight recovery to levels like in the period between 1986-1992. 

Similarly, neither zirconium, tantalum, molybdenum, nor tungsten carbene complexes have been applied extensively by organic chemists for carbonyl olefination [609,727-729], probably because of the difficulty of their preparation and the high price of some of these compounds. These reagents can, however, have appealing chemo- and stereo-selectivity (Table 3.11). 

When the performance and price of CVD tools compare favorably with those of PCD tools, CVD tools may displace PCD tools in some applications. Woodworking tools represent another major market segment for diamond coatings. Tungsten carbide blades already comprise a large part of the woodworking tool market. CVD-diamond-coated tools have yet to be used in woodworking and, thus, they offer an excellent business opportunity. 

From time to time, summaries about the tungsten ore reserves are published in the current literature. In principle, it must be taken into account that all those figures are based on estimates. Moreover, they are influenced by the demand of tungsten, the market situation, and consequently by the world market price for tungsten. 

Economic importance. About 23,000 tons/year of hardmetal are currently used in the western world, which correspond to more than 60% of tungsten demand [9.1]. The world market volume for hardmetal cutting tools in 1995 was estimated to be roughly 9 billion DM [9.10]. The price ofhardmetals, on average, equals that of silver. For special tools, like coated indexable inserts, the price is about double that of silver [9.11]. 

The relationship between metal prices and relative abundance of the chemical elements in the Earth s upper continental crust is shown in Fig. 1. One can observe that Pt, being one of the rarest metals is the most expensive one. Its finite deposits are concentrated in just a few countries. Alone the high and volatile price of this metal could be a potential showstopper for fuel cells in any tmly mass market application such as transportation. Hence, in order to develop and commercialize fuel cells, it is necessary and challenging to partially reduce or completely replace Pt as the cathode electrocatalyst using non-precious metals such as cobalt, iron, molybdenum, tungsten, etc. 

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