What’s interesting is that supply appears increasingly constrained. High-purity tungsten metal powder is the primary raw…
SemiAnalysis Twitter · SemiAnalysis (@SemiAnalysis_) · 2026-06-29
SemiAnalysis reports that China controls approximately 80% of global tungsten mining and processing — the critical precursor to tungsten hexafluoride used in chip manufacturing — and that Chinese tungsten exports have fallen roughly 50% year-over-year, creating significant pricing pressure on semiconductor fabs worldwide.
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Extraction
Topics: tungsten-supplysemiconductor-supply-chainchina-tech-dominancecritical-materials
Claims
- China controls approximately 80% of global tungsten mining, refining, and powder processing capacity.
- High-purity tungsten metal powder is the primary raw material for tungsten hexafluoride (WF₆), the gas used in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes in semiconductor fabrication.
- China's tungsten exports year-to-date are down approximately 50% year-over-year.
- The decline in Chinese tungsten exports is creating measurable pricing pressure on global semiconductor customers dependent on this input.
Key quotes
The raw supply chain is overwhelmingly dominated by China, which controls roughly 80% of global tungsten mining, refining, and powder processing capacity.
China exports YTD are down ~50% YoY, and the data demonstrates the pricing pressure global customers are facing on this critical component.
High-purity tungsten metal powder is the primary raw material used to manufacture WF₆ (tungsten hexafluoride, the gas used in CVD).