SMM News, December 19th：The skyrocketing tungsten prices have exerted disparate impacts on different enterprises across the tungsten industrial chain. Below is a summary of survey findings from upstream mining enterprises, midstream smelters, and downstream cemented carbide & cutting tool manufacturers:

In 2025, the global nickel pig iron (NPI) market, influenced by the interplay of supply-demand dynamics, cost fluctuations, and policy environment, exhibited an overall trend of "fluctuations in the first half of the year, followed by initial stability and subsequent weakness in the second half." Significant divergence was observed between the two core production regions, China and Indonesia. Price trends shifted from cost-supported increases at the beginning of the year to off-season demand-driven declines by year-end. Throughout the year, the industry revolved around two fundamental themes: "capacity release and cost constraints on the supply side, and volatility in the stainless steel industry on the demand side."

[SMM Analysis:China's 2025 Copper Concentrate Imports Show Significant Increase in Inland Mining]According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China imported 2.526 million dmt of cu cons and its concentrates in November 2025, a month-on-month increase of 3% and a year-on-year increase of 12.5%. From January to November, China's cumulative imports of copper ore and its concentrates reached 27.614 million dmt, an 8% increase year-on-year. SMM forecasts that China will import 2.6 million dmt of cu cons and its concentrates in December 2025, bringing the total annual imports to 30.26 million dmt, a year-on-year increase of 7.43%, with an expected increment of 2.094 million dmt.

[SMM Analysis:Latest Copper Concentrate Supply-Demand Balance Results: Annual Contract Negotiation Outcomes Imminent ]As the year draws to a close, the fundamental dynamics of the global copper concentrate supply and demand are largely clear. Based on the latest global copper concentrate production and smelter operations, SMM estimates this year's copper concentrate supply-demand balance to be approximately a deficit of 170,000 metal tonnes. This outcome is more favorable than the previously projected deficit of 530,000 metal tonnes.