{"id":689936,"date":"2026-10-20T19:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T19:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=689936"},"modified":"2026-10-20T19:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T19:45:00","slug":"cme-plans-worlds-first-tungsten-futures-as-booming-missile-demand-may-spark-severe-2030-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=689936","title":{"rendered":"CME Plans World’s First Tungsten Futures As Booming Missile Demand May Spark Severe 2030 Shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"

CME Plans World’s First Tungsten Futures As Booming Missile Demand May Spark Severe 2030 Shortage<\/span><\/p>\n

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CME Group plans to launch the first tungsten futures contract<\/strong> as deepening resource nationalism, Chinese export restrictions, and rising demand from the global rearmament cycle intensify Western governments’ focus on securing conflict-free materials and highlight the industrial base’s urgent need to hedge future price risk. These new contracts would introduce exchange-traded forward pricing<\/strong> to a market that currently relies heavily on spot prices and has limited visibility into future pricing.<\/p>\n

Trading is expected to begin in early 1Q27, subject to regulatory review. The contract will be settled against Fastmarkets’ Western benchmark for ammonium paratungstate, or APT, the\u00a0raw material and commercial precursor for almost all downstream tungsten products.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For miners, manufacturers, and trading desks, the potential benefits extend well beyond hedging.\u00a0A\u00a0liquid futures curve could show how the market participants view the worsening global supply constraints for the critical metal<\/strong>.<\/span>\u00a0That would add a new\u00a0forward-looking dimension to spot prices, allowing\u00a0participants greater visibility into pricing months and years out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Tungsten sits at the intersection of advanced manufacturing, semiconductor technologies and geopolitics, and our clients are increasingly seeking to hedge their exposure and improve price transparency<\/strong>,” said Jin Hennig, CME Group’s managing director and global head of metals.<\/p>\n

“CME Group Tungsten futures will join our growing suite of critical minerals and energy transition metal products, providing clients more opportunities to manage risk as global supply chains restructure<\/strong>,” Hennig added.<\/p>\n

Fastmarkets CEO\u00a0Raju Daswani pointed out,\u00a0“Growing volatility and concentrated supply<\/strong> are increasing the need for transparent, trusted price benchmarks in the tungsten market,” adding, “The launch of this contract, based on Fastmarkets’ tungsten APT assessment, is a significant step in the market’s development, connecting physical-market price discovery with new opportunities to manage price risk<\/strong><\/u>.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fastmarkets’ Western APT benchmark surged after China, in early 2025, restricted the flow of the critical metal to Western defense and industrial companies, sending prices as high as $3,000 a ton. Spot prices have since moved lower to around $2,775.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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CME’s announcement coincided with Almonty Industries’ Investor Day<\/strong> at Nasdaq in Midtown Manhattan, where the tungsten producer presented to analysts from Oppenheimer, Stifel, Jefferies, Goldman Sachs, and other firms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

CEO Lewis Black and the management team outlined a constructive operating outlook for the miner’s South Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese mines, along with updates on expansion projects and additional supply sources.<\/p>\n

Almonty’s investment case centers around its move to be one of the largest\u00a0conflict-free tungsten miners (ex-China) for the West.\u00a0<\/strong>Its operating assets and expansion pipeline position the miner as a tungsten lifeline for the rearmament cycle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Black told investors that constrained Western tungsten supplies are strengthening Almonty’s commercial position<\/strong>, supporting improved offtake terms as Sangdong ramps Phase 1 production and advances its Phase 2 expansion.<\/p>\n

Sangdong’s Phase I is designed to process 640,000 tons of ore annually. Phase II is planned to double that capacity<\/strong>, with equipment ordering and underground planning already underway.<\/p>\n

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Several projects offer additional growth potential:<\/p>\n