Tungsten Concentrate (Scheelite / Wolframite 65% WO₃) & Ammonium Paratungstate (APT)

Scheelite and wolframite concentrate at 65% WO₃ and APT 88.5% WO₃, priced per metric tonne unit, from non-Chinese mines with 3TG due diligence on file

Tungsten trades in metric tonne units: one mtu is 10 kg of WO₃, and both the concentrate and the intermediate are priced per mtu of contained tungsten trioxide. Two minerals make the concentrate. Scheelite (CaWO₄) is floated or gravity-concentrated from skarn deposits and wolframite ((Fe,Mn)WO₄) is gravity-concentrated from vein and greisen deposits; either way, the first-grade product the converters buy is 65% WO₃ minimum, with lower-grade material at 50–60% WO₃ taken at a discount and a higher treatment deduction. After grade the converter reads the penalty elements: tin (which follows wolframite out of the same veins), arsenic, molybdenum (a scheelite problem, since powellite substitutes into the lattice), phosphorus, sulphur, copper, antimony and bismuth, and uranium and thorium, which are limited because they concentrate in the APT process residue; the ceilings and the deduction per unit over them are agreed per contract with the converter, and lots that exceed the reject limits are blended or refused. The concentrate is digested in caustic or acid, purified and crystallised into ammonium paratungstate, APT, the traded intermediate: the MMTA norm specifies WO₃ 88.5% minimum with aluminium and iron at 10 ppm, molybdenum at 20 ppm and arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and vanadium at 5 ppm maximum, packed in polythene-lined drums of 100 or 200 kg net and sold by the full container of about 18 MT. APT is calcined to tungsten oxide (yellow WO₃ or blue oxide), reduced to tungsten metal powder and carburised to tungsten carbide, the cemented-carbide tooling and wear-part feed that is the metal's largest use, with high-speed and tool steels, tungsten heavy alloys and superalloys behind it. The supply picture governs everything: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 puts China at about 52% of world reserves (2.4 million MT of 4.6 million) and non-Chinese mine production at only about 20% of the world total, and on 4 February 2025 China's Ministry of Commerce and customs administration placed ammonium paratungstate, tungsten oxide and other tungsten items under export licensing (Announcement No. 10 of 2025), followed on 30 October 2025 by 2026–27 export-qualification rules for tungsten, antimony and silver exporters; the MMTA reported that no Chinese APT exports were recorded in April 2026 and that the year-to-date total at end-May 2026 was 2 MT. Fastmarkets' APT 88.5% WO₃ cif Rotterdam and Baltimore assessment, its concentrate 65% WO₃ in-warehouse China and basis 50–70% WO₃ cif global assessments and its ferro-tungsten assessments are the published references, and the seaborne APT price set repeated highs through 2025.

The non-Chinese mines are therefore the asset, and the buyers are the converters and oxide plants outside China that need feed. Vietnam's Nui Phao (Masan High-Tech Materials), the largest tungsten mine outside China, gave the country about 3,000 MT of tungsten in 2025; Bolivia produced about 1,700 MT from its wolframite cooperatives and private mines; Portugal's Panasqueira (Almonty) produced about 500 MT of wolframite concentrate in 2024; Spain's Barruecopardo (EQ Resources) is being upgraded; Australia's Mt Carbine (EQ Resources) has expanded with US EXIM support; Kazakhstan's Boguty deposit started production in 2024; and Rwanda exports wolframite concentrate from mines covered by the ITSCI traceability programme. Tungsten is one of the four 3TG conflict minerals with tin, tantalum and gold, and that is not a footnote on this page: every lot carries the mine of origin, the ITSCI or equivalent tag and chain-of-custody record for Great Lakes material, the exporter's licence, and the due-diligence file to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas; EU importers of tungsten ores, concentrates and APT above the Annex I volume thresholds fall under Regulation (EU) 2017/821 and must run and report that due diligence themselves, US-listed buyers report under Dodd-Frank Section 1502, and converters seek Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) conformance, and the Responsible Minerals Initiative stated in 2024 that it would not recognise ITSCI for at least a year and that smelters sourcing from the Great Lakes region must run supplementary checks. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers scheelite and wolframite concentrate and APT from mine, cooperative-exporter and trader allocations in Bolivia, Spain, Portugal, Vietnam, Rwanda and Australia, and from China only with the exporter's export licence, against SGS, Alfred H Knight or Bureau Veritas weighing, sampling and assay of WO₃ and the penalty elements with umpire terms, settled on dry weight and paid per mtu. Concentrate moves in 1 MT bulk bags or drums in 20-foot containers on FCA, FOB, CIF and DAP terms. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2841.80 (tungstates, of which APT is the main article) total USD 161 million and 8,552 MT across 28 reporting countries. Send the WO₃ range, your penalty ceilings, whether you buy concentrate or APT, the monthly tonnage, your delivery point and your conflict-minerals reporting obligations, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices concentrate freight, Group A cargoes on LaycanDesk.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.