Western Tungsten Prices Hit 3.74 Times China Level
Buyers of tungsten in Europe and the US face a far wider cost gap against Chinese supply than their historical budgets assumed.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in International Trade
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Tungsten prices outside China have pulled sharply away from Chinese prices. In October 2026, Rotterdam APT traded at $278.22 per kg versus $74.43 per kg for China ex-works, a 3.74 times multiple, for businesses that buy tungsten in Europe and the US.
Why it matters
China's tungsten export licensing, in effect since February 2025, has restricted outside supply and strengthened Chinese pricing, while US tariffs and procurement rules have been raised to favour domestic supply. Together these measures explain why the gap between Western and Chinese prices has widened beyond its long-run pattern.
Rotterdam APT reached $278.22 per kg in October 2026 against $74.43 per kg ex-works in China, a 3.74 times multiple compared with a 1.24 times average from September 2021 to June 2025. US tungsten tariffs rose from about 4% in 2015 to 2024 to 16.2% in December 2025, and the report's price series shows China ex-works falling 58% from March to September 2026 while Rotterdam rose 39%.
The players
China (Government of the People's Republic of China)
China is the dominant global tungsten producer, and its export licensing regime controls how much material reaches outside markets.
United States Government
The US sets tungsten tariffs, scrap allocation rules, and DFARS procurement restrictions that govern defence and domestic supply chains.
The details
The premium was calculated from monthly APT price averages in the two markets. Chinese export licensing limits how much tungsten leaves China, which tightens supply to buyers outside it and lifts their prices, while US tariffs and a scrap allocation order aim to channel material toward domestic conversion. Buyers in Europe and the US therefore face a delivered market that is decoupling from the Chinese domestic price.
Timeline
February 2025: China's tungsten export licensing took effect.
April 2026: The Rotterdam-to-China multiple first broke out above its historical range.
December 2025: US tungsten tariffs were raised to 16.2%.
Late August 2026: A US tungsten scrap allocation order took effect.
January 1, 2027: A DFARS procurement restriction on tungsten takes effect.
Market Landscape
The gap follows from China's tungsten export licensing, which took effect in February 2025 and has since tightened outside supply. Western buyers now pay a premium that the report's 1.24 times baseline from 2021 to mid-2025 does not capture.
Buyers of tungsten outside China should expect the delivered price premium to persist and to shape procurement budgets. Procurement teams in defence-linked supply chains should review sourcing against the January 2027 DFARS restriction.
The takeaway
The Western-to-China tungsten premium is now structural rather than cyclical, so cost models should be rebuilt around delivered European and US prices. Procurement teams should calendar the January 1, 2027 DFARS restriction and track the next US tungsten data release before locking multi-quarter contracts.
What happens next
The US tungsten September 2026 data is due for release and will show how the Western premium is developing. The DFARS procurement restriction takes effect January 1, 2027, and will reshape the market from that date.
Further reading
For background on how export controls and tariffs reshape cross-border commodity pricing, see International Trade.
Source note: This article includes information reported by MINING.
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