Updated 10 Oct 2026 · WolfTrack by TungstenIndia.com
Within two weeks, two projects outside China moved from plan to contract. South Korea’s Sangdong mine produced its first concentrate in late September. A US alloy producer, Elmet, announced a stake in Vietnam’s Masan High-Tech Materials together with an eight-year supply agreement. Together they show where non-China tungsten is being built, and how slowly.
Sangdong: first concentrate, 33 years after the mine closed
Almonty Industries, which acquired the project in 2015, reported first concentrate from Sangdong in Gangwon province, South Korea, in late September 2026. The mine was suspended in the early 1990s, so this is its first tungsten output since 1993, per trade reports.
| Item | As reported |
|---|---|
| Status | Phase I processing plant certified operational (company headline, 21 Sep); first concentrate in the week before the 29 Sep shareholder letter |
| Current operation | Mill running 13 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a move to 24/7 planned |
| Ore on site | about 4.6 months of material stockpiled |
| Grade | average about 0.51% WO₃ across the orebody, roughly three times the global average (company) |
| Mine life | more than 45 years (company) |
| Phase II | up to 1.2 million tonnes of ore a year, potentially over 460,000 mtu a year, completion expected 2027 (company) |
| Offtake | agreement with US-based GTP extended to 21 years; minimum 210,000 mtu a year (trade report) |
| Company claim | at full capacity, about 40% of tungsten demand outside China (company, not independently verified) |
Three cautions. The first output is a ramp-up, not full production. The Phase I throughput and concentrate volumes were not stated in the sources we read. And the ramp uses lower-grade stockpiled ore first, with higher grades expected later.
Masan and Elmet: a stake with a supply contract attached
On 25 Sep 2026, Masan Group announced that US-based Elmet Group would acquire 4.99% of Masan High-Tech Materials (MSR) from a wholly owned Masan subsidiary. Masan Group stays the controlling shareholder at about 87.46%. The deal was priced at an implied US$2.5 billion equity valuation for MSR, which works out to roughly $125 million for the stake (our arithmetic, not a stated price).
The equity is the smaller part of the story. Alongside it are multi-year agreements with committed volumes:
- Term: eight years, following a relationship of more than twelve years.
- Volume: about 1,250 tonnes of WO₃-equivalent a year, as tungsten products and conversion services from MSR’s mining and refining operations in Vietnam.
- Value: about US$1.5 billion of gross revenue over the initial term at prevailing tungsten prices, per the companies.
- Extra feed: Elmet and MSR will also look for more tungsten concentrate from international partner mines to process in Vietnam.
The agreements take effect on completion, targeted for the first half of October. Separately, on 1 Oct MSR filed to seek shareholder approval for a private placement of up to 5%, at a price not below its most recent strategic transaction price. Proceeds would fund mining and deep-processing expansion at Nui Phao and strengthen the balance sheet. MSR has also said it expects to move to a Ho Chi Minh City listing in the first or second quarter of 2027.
The pattern: money is moving to the middle of the chain
Sangdong adds mined supply. Masan sells something harder to find: ore turned into APT and tungsten oxide outside China. As one trade analysis put it, the global bottleneck has shifted from ore shortages to smelting capacity shortages, with only 3–4 smelters able to make APT outside China (see One Market, Two Prices). Elmet’s contract is a buyer paying to secure conversion capacity, not just ore.
There is a link worth watching between this page and Vietnam’s draft export rule (see our scrap-policy page). A rule that allows only APT and oxide to leave Vietnam fits a company whose business is converting ore into exactly those products. That is our reading, not something either party has said.
What this means for Indian scrap sellers
What to take from it
- Supply outside China is real but slow. Sangdong is ramping and Phase II is a 2027 event. Smelting capacity takes years to build.
- Buyers outside China are paying for security, not for cheap material. That supports the premium for clean, traceable feed in the ex-China market.
- Scrap is part of the supply picture. One trade analysis cited scrap supplying around 60% of the feed for refineries outside China. Grade and documentation matter.
- Watch: Sangdong moving to 24/7 operation, completion of the Elmet deal, shareholder approval of the Masan placement.
- Current rates: India tungsten scrap rates.
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Frequently asked questions
Has the Sangdong tungsten mine started producing?
Almonty Industries reported first concentrate from Sangdong in South Korea in late September 2026. The mill is in ramp-up, and the company expects Phase II to complete in 2027.
What is the Elmet and Masan deal?
On 25 Sep 2026 Elmet Group agreed to buy 4.99% of Masan High-Tech Materials at an implied US$2.5 billion equity valuation, alongside an eight-year supply agreement for about 1,250 tonnes of WO3-equivalent a year. The agreements take effect on completion, targeted for the first half of October.
Why does smelting matter more than mining now?
Mine supply outside China is arriving, but only 3u20134 smelters outside China can make APT and new capacity takes years to build. That makes conversion capacity the scarce step.
What does this mean for Indian scrap sellers?
Supply outside China is real but slow, and buyers outside China are paying for security of supply. Clean, well-graded and documented scrap remains part of the supply picture.
Related reading
- One Market, Two Prices: why China tungsten is falling while the rest of the world stays tight
- Tungsten scrap is going strategic: US export restriction and Vietnam's draft rule
- China's tungsten trade, January–August 2026: imports up, exports down
- WolfTrack Issue #2: India scrap rates, 8 Oct 2026
- Tungsten scrap price in India, October 2026
Sources: Almonty Industries shareholder letter (29 Sep 2026) via Finviz and Mining.com; Masan / Elmet announcement coverage (Vietnam News, DealStreetAsia, 25 Sep 2026); Reuters report on the Masan placement via Engineering News (5 Oct 2026); publicly available trade reports (Shanghai-based, 4 Sep and 10 Oct 2026). Company claims are marked as such. For reference only, not trading advice.
