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China has dominated tungsten for decades. Can US cash in Central Asia loosen its grip?

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Nurmamat, M. (2026, October 3). China has dominated tungsten for decades. Can US cash in Central Asia loosen its grip? South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3369599/china-has-dominated-tungsten-decades-can-us-cash-central-asia-loosen-its-grip?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-10-03 · by Mia Nurmamat

Quick Summary

China has long dominated the global tungsten market, but recent US investments in Kazakhstan aim to challenge China's dominance. Analysts remain skeptical about the ability of these new projects to significantly reduce China’s lead. US companies like Ulterra Drilling Technologies are already feeling the effects, with manufacturing costs for drill bits containing tungsten increasing by up to 50% over the past year, leading them to reconsider their production methods.
Written by AI on 2026-10-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The United States is trying to reduce China's dominance in the global tungsten market by investing in mining projects in Kazakhstan. Despite US-backed initiatives, Chinese investment already has a significant presence there. This competition is critical for US oilfield equipment makers facing rising costs due to tungsten shortages; Ulterra Drilling Technologies reports that manufacturing drill bits with tungsten has increased by up to 50% over the past year. To mitigate expenses, companies are switching to steel-bodied models, which are less effective in hard rock drilling but more affordable. Analysts predict that overcoming China's established lead will be challenging for US efforts in Kazakhstan.

Written for “Tungsten Competition China Usa” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Tungsten Competition China Usa
Economy/Business · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
4
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
25%
1 of 4 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
62/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-03 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Mia Nurmamat
9 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 Kazakhstan is at the centre of US efforts to build a new supply chain for the metal, but analysts say China’s lead will be difficult to overcome The race to loosen China’s grip on tungsten is moving to Kazakhstan, where United States-backed mining projects are attempting to compete in an industry where Chinese investment already has an operating foothold. The supply squeeze has reached US oilfield equipment makers, which are redesigning one of their most important tools as the global shortage raises the cost of making drill bits.
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 9 articles by Mia Nurmamat →

Topics

China Chinese FocusChina Kazakhstan United States

Subjects

China GPE · 2× Kazakhstan GPE · 2× Chinese NORP · 1× FocusChina ORG · 1× Ulterra Drilling Technologies ORG · 1× United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

Kazakhstan is at the centre of US efforts to build a new supply chain for the metal, but analysts say China’s lead will be difficult to overcome The race to loosen China’s grip on tungsten is moving to Kazakhstan, where United States-backed mining projects are attempting to compete in an industry where Chinese investment already has an operating foothold. The supply squeeze has reached US oilfield equipment makers, which are redesigning one of their most important tools as the global shortage raises the cost of making drill bits.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-03
🔮 Kazakhstan is at the centre of US efforts to build a new supply chain for the metal, but analysts say China’s lead will be difficult to overcome The race to loosen China’s grip on tungsten is moving to Kazakhstan, where United States-backed mining projects are attempting to compete in an industry where Chinese investment already has an operating foothold. The supply squeeze has reached US oilfield equipment makers, which are redesigning one of their most important tools as the global shortage raises the cost of making drill bits.
2026-10-03 · South China Morning Post
China has dominated tungsten for decades. Can US cash in Central Asia loosen its grip? · mixed framing

Claims (4 extracted, 1 hedged)

Can US cash in Central Asia loosen its grip? asserted
cash → loosen → grip
Kazakhstan is at the centre of US efforts to build a new supply chain for the metal, but analysts say China’s lead will be difficult to overcome The race to loosen China’s grip on tungsten is moving to Kazakhstan, where United States-backed mining projects are attempting to compete in an industry where Chinese investment already has an operating foothold. The supply squeeze has reached US oilfield equipment makers, which are redesigning one of their most important tools as the global shortage raises the cost of making drill bits. asserted
shortage → build → bits
According to Ulterra Drilling Technologies, the cost of manufacturing drill bits had risen by as much as 50 per cent over the past year. uncertain
cost → accord → year
The company is responding by shifting production towards steel-bodied models, even as bits containing more tungsten typically last longer when cutting through hard, abrasive rock. asserted
bits → respond → rock
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