American Tungsten Corp. (TSXV: TUNG, OTCQB: DEMRF)
Building America’s Defense Critical Metals Supply
Chinese buyers have stepped up purchases of tungsten scrap across the United States recently, pushing prices of this critical mineral to record highs, according to the Financial Times. Yet industry insiders point out that such overseas procurement of technology metal scrap is far from a fresh move — it has been a decades-long practice.
Tungsten is an irreplaceable strategic material for advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense sectors, widely used in cutting tools, mining machinery, ammunition and missile systems. China dominates global tungsten mining and refining, accounting for over half of the world’s total output. In recent years, domestic production quotas have tightened local tungsten supply, prompting domestic buyers to source materials from international markets.
Chinese scrap traders ramped up acquisitions in the U.S. starting in early 2025. Global tungsten supplies have already been strained by falling mine output and robust downstream demand, and the surge in buying triggered fierce bidding wars nationwide. Since May 2025, U.S. tungsten scrap prices have soared by 350%, outpacing the 200% gain for primary tungsten metal. Ammonium paratungstate also hit an all-time high in late April.
Buyers have directly engaged with long-established U.S. suppliers and regularly outbid local recyclers. In some cases, they offered prices as high as five times the normal market rate. Due to environmental regulations, China bans imports of raw tungsten scrap, but allows inbound shipments of finished products processed overseas. U.S. exports of tungsten scrap to processing hubs including the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan have risen notably this year, though the ultimate destination of the processed materials remains unconfirmed.
The latest scramble for tungsten coincides with China’s export controls on related products rolled out last year, which have further elevated the metal’s strategic importance and put it on the U.S. government’s priority list. To diversify supply chains and reduce reliance, Washington plans to inject up to $1.6 billion into a tungsten mine project in Kazakhstan. U.S. recyclers acknowledge that an underreported competition over industrial scrap is unfolding, one that bears heavily on national industrial and defense capabilities.
For years, targeting overseas industrial scrap has been a consistent strategy to secure strategic resources. Competitive pricing and a comprehensive domestic deep-processing network enable full utilization of scrap materials. This model extends well beyond tungsten, covering rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony, graphite and other vital raw materials.
The global race for critical minerals is now shifting focus from virgin mining resources to recycled scrap. Discarded drill bits and old industrial equipment, once treated as waste, have become highly sought-after commodities. Some U.S. industry players are calling for export curbs on tungsten scrap, warning that outbound flows will weaken domestic industrial and defense supply chains. However, the U.S. lacks sufficient local capacity for tungsten processing and recycling, meaning outright export restrictions could create new operational bottlenecks.
Industry observers note that strategic scrap is essentially usable inventory. Building resilient supply chains for critical minerals relies not only on mining, but also on sound smelting, recycling and deep-processing infrastructure. In the era of great-power competition, even overlooked industrial scrap has emerged as a key battleground in global supply chain rivalry.
