Sentiment in the ammonium paratungstate (APT) market improved in the week ended Thursday September 12 in anticipation of a successful auction of tungsten stocks held by the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange and amid tightening concentrates supply in China.

The supply of tungsten raw material prices continued to remain tight under environment protection and mining enterprises stopping production to undergo repair. The persistent low transaction prices and high mining costs increased sellers’ strong rised mentality and thus tungsten ore prices got supported.

For the APT market, as the auction of Fanya stockpiles will soon come to an end, hopeful sentiment supported the APT prices. It was difficult to purchase resources when prices were lower than 198.6/mtu. The actual transactions also were hardly concluded. The market is expected to be caught in wait-and-see atmosphere before the end of Mid-Autumn Festival.