Recently, China’s export control policies on tungsten-related products have caused waves in the international industrial chain.
What originally seemed like ordinary resource control measures have now had a real impact. Many Japanese companies have borne the brunt, and two leading chemical companies have been forced to announce the suspension of some production lines. This has made the world begin to re-examine the important position of rare strategic resources in the global industrial landscape.
Tungsten, known as the “industrial tooth”, is a globally recognized key rare strategic metal.
It has ultra-high melting point, hardness and wear resistance, and is widely used in traditional metallurgy and mechanical processing fields. It is also an indispensable basic raw material for core industries such as high-end chemicals, precision manufacturing, semiconductors, new materials, and military industry.
China is the country with the largest tungsten resource reserves, mining volume, and processing volume in the world. It has long provided a large amount of tungsten raw materials and deep-processed products to countries around the world, supporting the operation of many global industrial chains.
In the past, China’s high-quality tungsten resources have flowed out at relatively low prices, but the development of the local high-end deep processing industry has been limited due to external technical barriers, and resource advantages have not been fully transformed into industrial advantages.
In this context, the state’s introduction of export control measures for tungsten and related products is a reasonable regulation based on resource protection, industrial upgrading, and national security. It is also a normal measure to safeguard its own development rights.
After the policy was implemented, the transmission effect quickly emerged.
Japan’s industrial system, which is highly dependent on imported tungsten raw materials, has been severely impacted.
Japan’s domestic tungsten reserves are extremely low and it almost entirely relies on overseas imports to maintain production. The chemical industry and special materials industry are one of its pillar industries.
Affected by China’s tightening of exports, the local tungsten raw material supply chain suddenly became tense, raw material prices continued to rise, and the supply cycle was significantly extended.
Due to the dual pressure of raw material supply cuts and soaring production costs, two well-known Japanese chemical giants had to shut down multiple core production lines, suspend production of some products directly, and corporate production operations came to a standstill.
After the news came out, related industries in Japan were in chaos, and downstream manufacturing companies were also anxious. An industry shock caused by upstream raw materials has begun.
In the short term, this suspension of production is only the most intuitive manifestation.
The special chemicals, wear-resistant materials, and high-end additives produced by these two chemical companies are not only supplied to the Japanese domestic market, but are also exported to various parts of the world.
After the production line was shut down, there was a gap in the market supply of related products, and prices rose accordingly. Global downstream buyers had to look for sources of supply again, but it was difficult to find stable suppliers that could replace China in the short term.
Many overseas small and medium-sized enterprises are facing dual shortages of raw materials and finished products, and their production rhythm has been disrupted.
The industry generally believes that the current impact is just the beginning, and a greater chain reaction is yet to come.
On the one hand, the tungsten industry chain is interconnected from top to bottom. The chemical industry is only the first area to be affected. Next, precision machinery, tool manufacturing, optical materials, electronic components and other industries will gradually feel the pressure of raw materials. Japan’s complete industrial system will face continuous tests.
On the other hand, the global trade pattern will also undergo subtle changes as a result. Countries will re-examine the security issues of rare resource supply chains and accelerate the diversification of raw material supply. However, this process requires a long time, capital and technology accumulation, and the existing pattern cannot be changed in the short term.
Looking at China, export controls have also forced the industry to accelerate transformation.
The previous model of extensive mining and low-priced export of primary raw materials was gradually abandoned. Enterprises began to delve into the fields of high-end deep processing of tungsten, special alloys, cutting-edge new materials, etc., keeping resource advantages in the country and increasing the added value of products.
At the same time, relevant domestic industrial chains have also taken the opportunity to make up for their shortcomings and strengths and weaknesses, and gradually build an independent and controllable complete industrial system.
This industrial change caused by resource control has made everyone see clearly: in the global division of labor, core rare resources are the invisible industry trump card.
Only by rationally applying resource rules and protecting local resources and industries can we firmly grasp the initiative in development.
In the future, the competition for global rare resources will become more and more intense. Only by insisting on independent innovation and deeply cultivating the real industry can we maintain steady and long-term development in the ever-changing international market.
