Tungsten

An important material for high-speed steel tools, technology and electronics, tungsten is the heaviest engineering material and has the highest melting point of all metals.

Tungsten (W)

Tungsten is primarily used in cemented carbide and high-speed steel tools. It is also used in technology and electronics. Tungsten is unique in that it has extremely low vapour pressure, its corrosion resistance is excellent, and it does not oxidise in air and therefore needs no protection from oxidation. China is both the largest producer and consumer of tungsten. Vietnam is the second biggest producer, although the country produces only a fraction of tungsten when compared to China.

Tungsten is associated with several major ESG issues, including child labour, human rights abuses, and conflict. High-profile reports linking tungsten to these issues stem from the material’s designation by the United States and European Union as a ‘conflict mineral’ due to sourcing in the African Great Lakes region, where tungsten ore is mined as wolframite. However, as the DR Congo is currently only a minor producer of tungsten, the share of global tungsten supply that is actually associated with these ESG issues is relatively low.i

Main uses and applications

Tungsten is the heaviest engineering material with a density of 19.25 g per cubic centimetre. It also has the highest melting point of all metals. Tungsten is useful in that it has extremely low vapour pressure, even at high temperatures; where more conductive metals such as copper and silver erode under the conditions of an electric arc, tungsten withstands these.ii Its corrosion resistance is excellent; it is not attacked by nitric, hydrofluoric, or sulphuric acid solutions. Tungsten does not oxidise in air and needs no protection from oxidation even at elevated temperatures.

Tungsten is primarily used in cemented carbide and high-speed steel tools. It is also used in lighting technology, electronics, power engineering, coating, and joining technology, the automotive and aerospace industries, medical technology, and in jewellery.iii Tungsten is an important component for modern circuitry in microelectronic devices.iv

The steel industry is currently the second bigger consumer of tungsten. Tungsten consumption for steel differs considerably geographically; the United States uses about 2% of tungsten for steelmaking, Europe and Japan consume around 10%, and Russia and China consume approximately 30%.v