Asian Metal visits Grand Sea, Jiangwu H.C. Starck Tungsten, Jiangwu Ferrotungsten and Ganzhou Sunny

On June 29, 2023, Asian Metal sales director Mr. Hao Zhao and tungsten market analyst Ms. Alina Fang visited Ganzhou Grand Sea T&Mo Group Co., Ltd., Jiangwu H.C. Starck Tungsten Co., Ltd., Ganzhou Jiangwu Ferrotungsten Co., Ltd. and Ganzhou Sunny Non-ferrous Metals Co., Ltd., and were warmly greeted by the companies.

On the morning of June 29, Mr. Hao Zhao and Ms. Alina Fang first visited Ganzhou Grand Sea T&Mo Group Co., Ltd. ("Grand Sea Tungsten") and met Mr. Qingning Zeng, president of the company and director of Ganzhou Tungsten Association. The two sides exchanged views on production, consumption and inventory situation of the current tungsten product market and discussed status quo and challenges of tungsten companies in 2023. Following a brief introduction on production and project construction of Grand Sea Tungsten, Mr. Zeng stated that under the current economic background, demand for downstream tungsten alloy is shrinking in 2023 and processing companies bear high costs pressure, which poses certain challenges for tungsten companies in responding to fluctuations in prices. Grand Sea Tungsten owns a complete industrial chain ranging from tungsten salt processing to cemented carbide production and has a product portfolio consisting of sodium tungstate, ammonium metatungstate, ammonium paratungstate (APT), tungsten oxide, tungsten powder, tungsten carbide powder, alloy powder, cemented carbide, tungsten bar, tungsten rod, tungsten wire, molybdenum powder, molybdenum plate, molybdenum wire, etc. Grand Sea Tungsten has a total registered capital of approximately 100.97 million yuan and currently employs more than 400 staff, including more than 50 research and development personnel. At present, it has three controlled subsidiaries and one JV company. In particular, Hailong Tungsten and Molybdenum Co., Ltd. mainly produces tungsten salt products, Haisheng Cemented Carbide Co., Ltd. mainly produces various types of hard alloys, powder factory of Haisheng Tungsten Industry Co., Ltd. mainly produces tungsten powder and its deep processed products, and Haisheng Tungsten and Molybdenum Group (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. mainly sells tungsten and molybdenum powder and tungsten and molybdenum metal deep processed products. The JV subsidiary Kyocera Precision Tools (Ganzhou) Co., Ltd. mainly produces CNC blades. Grand Sea Tungsten’s products are exported to countries and regions such as Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea. Grand Sea Tungsten maintains long-term steady communication with Asian Metal in relation to tungsten production and selling on the domestic market and on the tungsten export market, and thinks highly of Asian Metal's objective, impartial and professional market information service.

Subsequently, Mr. Hao Zhao and Ms. Alina Fang visited Jiangwu H.C. Starck Tungsten Products Co., Ltd. and were warmly welcomed by Mr. Chengdi Yang, deputy general manager of this company. The two sides conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on the domestic and foreign price trends of tungsten products in the first half of 2023 as well as the problems and challenges existing in the current tungsten market in raw material side. Mr. Yang said that under the background of the downward economic situation in 2023, the demand from the downstream terminal market declined slightly, and APT88.5%min smelters faced a greater test on the raw material cost, which was also the main reason for high prices of APT88.5%min in 2023. Jiangwu H.C.Starck Tungsten Products Co., Ltd. is a tungsten smelting and processing enterprise jointly established by Jiangxi Tungsten Holding Group Company Limited and H.C.Starck German Tungsten Company. With an annual design capacity of 6,000 tons of APT88.5%min and 8,000 tons of tungsten oxide, the company covers an area of 62 mu (10.21 acres) and has a total investment of more than RMB200 million (USD28.01 million), of which Jiangxi Tungsten and H.C.Starck German Tungsten Company contributed 70% and 30% respectively. Based on the tungsten extraction process, the company has absorbed advanced technical talents at home and abroad, integrated a number of latest scientific research achievements, transformed and upgraded the traditional process, and built two professional production lines of high-purity APT and high-quality tungsten oxide. The APT and tungsten oxide products produced by the company have high purity and better physical properties. More than 70% APT products meet the high purity standards of the company (impurity content<60ppm), while tungsten oxide products with rich categories have achieved customized production and sales, and are high-quality raw materials for the production of ultra-fine and ultra-coarse high-end powder materials, which have been exported to South Korea, Japan and Europe. Since the company put into operation in 2014, its output and operating income steadily increase, and the operating income reached RMB1.9 billion (USD266 million) in the past three years. The company is the first unit in the tungsten industry to complete the construction of high-salt wastewater desalination project, realizing the resource recovery of sulfate wastewater and reducing the emission of sodium sulfate by over 10,000 tons per year, which contribute to the construction of rich, beautiful and happy Jiangxi. Jiangwu H.C.Starck has been a subscriber of Asian Metal for many years and signs cooperation agreements with the prices of Asian Metal as the reference, and both parties have maintained timely, objective and in-depth information exchange for a long time. Jiangwu H.C.Starck Tungsten Products Co., Ltd. gave its recognition and support to Asian Metal for upholding the "objective and fair" concept in the course of reflecting market information.

On the afternoon of June 29, Mr. Hao Zhao and Ms. Alina Fang first visited Ganzhou Jiangwu Ferrotungsten Co., Ltd. and met with Vice General Manager Mr. Wenxue Lian and Sales Manager Mr. Yao Liu. Both sides had in-depth communication on the current production status and market demand of domestic ferrotungsten in 2023. Mr. Lian stated that ferrotungsten prices lack momentum to rise under the premise of the current weak demand, but the high cost of raw materials makes it difficult for ferrotungsten prices to decline. Ganzhou Jiangwu Ferrotungsten Co., Ltd. is a professional ferrotungsten producer in China under Jiangxi Tungsten Holding Group Co., Ltd. The company mainly engages in the production and sales of ferrotungsten products. Relying on the high-quality wolframite concentrate resources of Jiangxi Tungsten Holding Group and its own technological advantages, the company adopts advanced iron extraction process to produce high-quality "Qianfeng" brand 80 series ferrotungsten products. The company owns a 2,200kVA ferrotungsten smelting electric arc furnace and adopts the advanced Siemens 1,500 PLC core automatic control system, equipped with two iron diggers and two iron knockers. With an annual production capacity of 6,000t of ferrotungsten, the company mainly sells its products to steel mills in Europe, Japan, North America, East China, North China and Northeast China. In terms of safety technology, the company introduces a proportional valve group hydraulic system and a set of Wincc industrial internet communication technologies to achieve comprehensive safety monitoring and computer autocontrol production. In terms of environmental protection facilities, the company adopts tube bundle coolers and advanced FS bag dust technology to effectively treat the flue gas and dust particles of electric arc furnace, thus achieving ultra-low emissions. Ganzhou Jiangwu Ferrotungsten Co., Ltd. maintains long-term, stable and in-depth communication and exchange with Asian Metal, and highly recognizes the objective, fair, and professional market information consultation of Asian Metal.

Finally, Mr. Hao Zhao and Ms. Alina Fang went to Ganzhou Sunny Non-ferrous Metals Co., Ltd. ("Ganzhou Sunny") and secured delightful business meeting with Ms. Fang Zhuang, the General Manager, Mr. Jianmin Wang, the Exports Director, Mr. Yuquan Qiu and Mr. Tongsheng Deng, the Business Directors. After deep discussion upon current end-user demand for tungsten powder, Ms. Fang Zhuang raised her concerns that the market supply of raw materials went tight overall and tungsten product prices fluctuated limitedly this year curtailed by production costs. Siting on Ganzhou, Jiangxi of China, the Tungsten Capital of the World, Ganzhou Sunny occupies 30mu (2 hectares) for its Phase I production and 50mu (3.33 hectares) for Phase II in total. The company is mainly engaged in production, processing, sales, import and export of tungsten products like tungsten oxide, tungsten powder, tungsten carbide powder, tungsten bar, high-grade tungsten bar, ferrotungsten, APT, tungsten wire, tungsten heater, high-density alloy, cemented carbide rods, button bit, NC blade, woodworking tooling, other hard alloys, etc., creating a sales volume of nearly 2,000t per annum. Moreover, their products aim at the industries of hard alloy, machinery, electronics, chemical, medical treatment, aerospace, steel and so on, and are exported to Europe, South Korea and other countries besides Japan and the U.S. Another point worth mentioning is that their high-quality goods and excellent service earn them good reputations. Encouragingly, Ganzhou Sunny speaks highly of Asian Metal’s timely, objective and accurate consulting service, and deals with their procurement of raw materials and sales of tungsten products based on the market information from Asian Metal, with whom they have been maintaining deep and stable communication on a long-term basis.