# Tungsten: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/correlation/ China mines most tungsten and controls exports, so its quotas and policies set world prices, quoted in private assessments for ammonium paratungstate. Demand comes from cemented carbide cutting tools, mining and drilling bits, alloys and defence. No public price Tungsten has no public monthly price series: Priced in private trade assessments; no free public monthly series. #### What its price moves with Commodity [Co Cobalt](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/)Carbide binder Cemented carbide, tungsten's largest use, bonds tungsten carbide grains with cobalt, so toolmakers buy both. Cobalt price spikes raise carbide costs and push research into cobalt-free binders such as nickel or iron. No public price for cobalt, so the link is explained in words only. Commodity [Mo Molybdenum](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/molybdenum/)Substitute Molybdenum can replace part of the tungsten in high-speed tool steels, so a tungsten spike shifts some demand to molybdenum. Both depend on Chinese supply and on the same machine tool and steel cycles. No public price for molybdenum, so the link is explained in words only. Commodity [St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)Alloy use Tungsten is added to tool, high-speed and heat-resistant steels, and carbide tools are used to cut and machine steel, so steel and manufacturing activity drive demand both directly and indirectly. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [UOG Unconventional oil and gas](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_oil_gas_unconv/)Drilling demand Tungsten carbide drill bits and wear parts are used in oil and gas wells and in mines, so drilling booms in shale basins raise tungsten demand. When drilling slows, as after oil price falls, carbide orders drop too. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [Fus Fusion reactors](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion/)Future use Tungsten's very high melting point makes it the leading material for parts of fusion reactors that face the plasma, a small possible future demand that adds to its strategic status alongside defence uses. No public price for fusion reactors, so the link is explained in words only. How to read these numbers **Correlation of monthly changes** (the number in the coloured pill) compares how much each price moved, month by month, since 2006 or the first month both series exist. It runs from −1 to +1: near +1 the two usually rise and fall in the same months, near 0 there is no link, and a negative number means they tend to move in opposite directions. Above 0.7 is strong, 0.4 to 0.7 moderate, 0.2 to 0.4 weak. **12-month changes** compare year-on-year moves, which shows whether two prices share the same cycles even when the month-to-month noise differs. **Price function** is a straight-line fit of the two prices on logarithmic scales: price ≈ k × (partner price)^β. β is how much this price moves, in per cent, for a 1% move in the partner over the whole period, and R² is the share of the variation the fit explains. Two prices that both drift up with inflation can fit well without any real link, so read it together with the monthly correlation. **Lead or lag** checks whether the monthly correlation is clearly higher when one price is shifted by 1 to 6 months. Correlation is not cause. The reasons on each card explain the economic link; the numbers show how strongly it has shown up in prices. Proxy series are US producer price indexes or related prices and can blur the real link. Data: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes, IMF primary commodity prices and US EIA prices via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved November 2026. Calculations by this site. ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/overview/index.md) - [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/extraction/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/production/index.md) - [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/stocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/movement/index.md) - [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/criticality/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tungsten/links/index.md)