May be there is a genuine concern in the Chinese planning on the depleting resources for tungsten. However, the voracious appetite would be more related to supplier power rather than any short term concerns. That’s just my opinion given the consideration that developing economy will require tungsten for producing general and advanced alloys.

This scenario is hardly surprising given that it has forced Japanese now to tactically seek reserves to meet its industrial demands. Hence, the government of Japanese (JOGMEC) signed the JV with Yankee Hat for Tungsten mining. The increase in global industrialization and China still holding the vast reserves of this material there is a potential for increase in competition for tungsten resources from developed and developing nations. This could possibly lead to a bidding war for tungsten assets.