The global tungsten supply chain crisis

As global industrial sectors face unprecedented shortages, the 2025 tungsten supply chain crisis highlights a critical vulnerability, caused by extreme production concentration and shifting geopolitical policies. This issue was recently highlighted by Stewart Martin, CEO of Checkmate, who said, “Everyone within our specific industry is currently navigating a ‘perfect storm’ in the raw materials market.” 

“For the past 12 months, our primary goal at Checkmate has been to insulate our customers from these escalating costs. We have absorbed significant impacts to maintain price stability for the sawmills and manufacturers who depend on us,” said Stewart.

Tungsten prices have skyrocketed by over 200%, due to tightening export controls and reduced mining quotas from major global suppliers. Simultaneously, the Cobalt market has transitioned from a surplus to a sharp deficit following significant supply-side interventions.

“However, over the last four months, the situation has elevated beyond any level that could have been predicted by historical market cycles,” said Stwart. 

The following article explores how recent export restrictions and skyrocketing prices are forcing Western nations to rapidly diversify their sourcing and invest in domestic mining to secure this irreplaceable metal.

A strategic overview

Ttungsten, the metal of extremes, is essential for everything, from aerospace applications to precision manufacturing. The supply crisis has become a geopolitical flashpoint that exposes fundamental vulnerabilities in Western industrial supply chains.

Defining the current market disruption

The tungsten market entered unprecedented territory in 2024-2025, characterised by dramatic price volatility and supply discontinuity. This price escalation reflects not merely market dynamics, but structural changes in global supply allocation mechanisms.

The magnitude of disruption becomes clear when examining licensing data. U.S. importers received zero tungsten export licenses from China throughout 2025, according to critical industry analysis. This represents a complete severance of the primary supply channel that historically provided the majority of tungsten imports to American manufacturers.

Critical infrastructure dependencies on tungsten

Modern industrial civilisation relies on tungsten across multiple mission-critical sectors that cannot easily substitute alternative materials. Defense contractors require tungsten for armour-piercing ammunition and aerospace components. Semiconductor manufacturers depend on tungsten interconnects for advanced chip architectures. Precision manufacturing relies on tungsten carbide tooling for automated production systems.

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Key source: Discovery Alert, with additional commentary from Checkmate.
Image credit: Checkmate