Global tungsten markets are undergoing one of the most powerful upcycles in over a decade, with prices surging to their highest point since 2013.

As of December 2025, the price of wolframite ore - one of the primary sources of tungsten - has soared nearly 150% year-to-date, triggering widespread volatility and renewed investor interest across metals and strategic commodities.

This sharp rise underscores tungsten’s growing role as a foundational material in the high-tech economy and a vital element in a new era of geopolitical resource competition.

China’s export clampdown triggers global supply shock

The most immediate catalyst for this price explosion has been China, which dominates between 70% and 80% of the world’s tungsten production and export capacity.

Throughout 2025, China has gradually imposed tighter controls on outbound shipments of strategic minerals, including tungsten. These include stricter quotas, heightened licensing requirements, and more rigorous customs inspections.

The resulting supply contraction has sent shockwaves through global markets, revealing the degree to which advanced industries - from semiconductors to defense - are still deeply reliant on Chinese raw materials.

Analysts increasingly draw comparisons between today’s tungsten market and the oil markets of past decades, where a highly concentrated supply made prices acutely vulnerable to political and policy disruptions.

A wave of demand from defense and advanced technology

On the demand side, tungsten consumption continues to climb steadily, underpinned by long-term structural trends. Unlike cyclical commodities, tungsten’s usage is deeply embedded in sectors that are not sensitive to economic downturns.

Tungsten is essential in a wide range of applications - from armor-piercing munitions and aerospace components to semiconductors, renewable energy systems, industrial cutting tools, and high-performance electronics.

Yet even as demand accelerates, the development of new tungsten mines is being constrained by long lead times, significant capital requirements, and increasingly strict environmental regulations.

This combination of tight supply and resilient demand has led many analysts to conclude that tungsten is now in a period of structural undersupply - a condition that could sustain elevated prices well into the next decade.

Tungsten becomes the 'black gold' of the 21st-century economy

With its unmatched density, heat resistance, and hardness, tungsten is often irreplaceable in high-performance technologies.

And in today’s shifting global landscape - where supply chain resilience, strategic autonomy, and technological sovereignty have become national imperatives - tungsten is increasingly viewed as the “black gold” of the 21st century.

If crude oil defined the 20th-century industrial boom, tungsten now fuels the defense, energy, and computing revolutions of the 21st.

Rising prices, in this context, reflect more than market fundamentals - they reveal a larger revaluation of strategic minerals through a geopolitical lens.

Vietnam emerges as a strategic tungsten powerhouse

As major economies seek to reduce their dependence on Chinese exports, countries that can offer secure tungsten supply and advanced downstream capabilities are gaining outsized importance.

Vietnam is one such country.

Home to the Nui Phao polymetallic tungsten mine in Thai Nguyen province - one of the world’s largest tungsten reserves outside China - Vietnam is rapidly cementing its position in the global tungsten ecosystem.

The mine is operated by Masan High-Tech Materials (UpCOM: MSR), a member of Masan Group, and is notable not just for its extraction capabilities but for its deep processing infrastructure.

Beyond mining, Masan has invested heavily in producing high-value downstream products such as ammonium paratungstate (APT), tungsten trioxide, and other refined materials for export to advanced manufacturing hubs around the world.

This full-spectrum capability - from resource to refined material - gives Vietnam a significant strategic edge as supply chains are restructured globally.

Positioning for the future of strategic minerals

With constrained global supply and an expanding base of high-tech demand, tungsten prices are expected to remain elevated over the medium to long term.

For Vietnam, this moment is more than a fleeting commodity boom - it is an opportunity to become a permanent fixture in the global strategic minerals value chain.

As tungsten solidifies its role as the “black gold” of the high-tech era, countries like Vietnam - endowed with secure reserves, capable operators, and deep processing technologies - will not only profit economically but also gain geopolitical significance.

In a world where minerals matter more than ever, tungsten is writing a new chapter in global competition - and Vietnam is poised to play a central role.

PV