The tungsten market is bracing for a challenging 2025 as the metal used in automobiles, semiconductors, weapons, and solar panels is increasingly caught in geopolitical crosshairs that exert exogenous influences on the market. Defense organization NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is the latest entity to chime in by including tungsten in its list of 12 minerals it deems critical to the production of advanced defense systems and equipment.
China, Russia, and North Korea combined represent more than 80% of world production. \'It is not a surprise that NATO put out a list. Defense contractor Rheinmetall was one of the best-performing German stocks in 2024, as Ukraine highlighted the problem facing munitions production, as there is little capacity to increase output. NATO is repeating what the EU already said, that there is a problem with the supply of a number of critical metals, and what are we going to do about it,' Lewis Black, chief executive of Almonty Industries, told Mining Journal. \While the USA does not produce tungsten, it is a key consumer, which makes the December 2024 decision of the Biden administration to impose an import tariff of up to 25% on some tungsten products a headscratcher, especially given that the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) stockpile of tungsten is now exhausted. The US Department of Defense cannot use tungsten from China, Russia, or North Korea from 2026, a move that is perhaps a tit-for-tat retaliation for China announcing export controls on the metal. \'Biden put tariffs on to protect an industry that doesn't exist in the US. We have no idea who was calling for these tariffs, and it seems to be done to elicit a response, a warning shot across the bows. China is looking to restrict exports of tungsten to companies involved in military applications, which is exactly what the European Union does,' said Blac