Tungsten is a grayish-white, lustrous, metallic element. The atomic symbol for tungsten is W because of its former name of Wolfram. The atomic number is 74. Tungsten has the highest melting point of any metal at about 3410 degrees Celsius and boils at about 5660 degrees Celsius. In 1781, the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered tungsten.

Tungsten is never found in nature but occurs in wolframite, scheelite, huebnertite, and ferberite. Tungsten has excellent corrosion resistance qualities and is resistant to most mineral acids. Tungsten is used as filaments in incandescent lamps, electron and television tubes, alloys of steel, spark plugs, electrical contact points, cutting tools, and in the chemical and tanning industries.

Prices – The average price of tungsten at US ports in 2001, the latest reporting year, rose +36% to a 19-year high of .72 per ton from .67 in 2000.

Supply – World concentrate production of tungsten in 2002 rose by 31% from 2001 to a 12-year high of 59,100 metric tons. The world’s largest producer of tungsten by far is China with 49,500 metric tons of production in 2002 representing 84% of total world production. The only other producer of consequence is Russia with 3,400 metric tons of production representing 6% of world production.

Trade – The US in 2002 relied on imports for 70% of its tungsten consumption, up from 59% in 2001. US imports for consumption in 2002 rose to 4,090 metric tons from 2,680 metric tons in 2001. US exports were negligible at 94 metric tons.