Chip Shortage, US Defense Rules, and a New CFO Propel Almonty into Tungsten’s Next Act

Almonty's Sangdong mine ramps up amid tungsten hexafluoride supply warnings; Q1 revenue jumps 221%, new CFO appointed ahead of full production in Q3 2026.

The wolfram market is tightening by the week, and Almonty Industries has positioned itself directly in the breach. Japanese suppliers Kanto Denka Kogyo and Central Glass — which together account for roughly a quarter of global tungsten hexafluoride supply — have warned Samsung and SK Hynix that their inventories of the critical gas could run out before the end of June. Without tungsten hexafluoride, the delicate layering process that creates the electrical circuits in 3D NAND memory chips grinds to a halt. The bottleneck traces back to Beijing: Chinese export licences for tungsten-related materials have been restricted since February 2025, and tightened dual-use rules came into force in January this year, strangling global availability.

Almonty’s Sangdong mine in South Korea is being readied as the Western world’s alternative. Chief executive Lewis Black has called it the most modern tungsten mine on the planet, a claim that carries extra weight with the shareholder meeting approaching on 9 June. The operation has already begun to deliver numbers that back up the rhetoric.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2026 jumped 221 percent to US$25.4 million, propelled by record prices for ammonium paratungstate, the benchmark tungsten intermediate. Adjusted EBITDA swung from a loss of US$2.4 million a year earlier to a positive US$6.1 million. Even more striking, operating cash flow flipped from negative US$4.4 million to positive US$9.7 million — a genuine inflection point for a company that had been bleeding cash during its development phase. The bottom line still shows a net loss of US$5.3 million, but that is almost entirely the result of non-cash valuation charges on derivatives and warrants, triggered by the sharp rise in the share price. Cash on hand stands at US$259.9 million and working capital at US$169.5 million.

To cement the transition from developer to producer, Almonty has brought in a new chief financial officer. Jorge Beristain, a Wall Street analyst with deep experience in natural resources, will take the helm of the finance department on 1 June. His mandate is to boost the company’s visibility among institutional investors at a moment when Sangdong’s commercial production is expected to ramp fully in the third quarter of 2026. The timing underscores management’s confidence that the operational foundation is now solid enough to attract a broader class of capital.

The broader geopolitical environment is working in Almonty’s favour. Under the US Defence Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, from 1 January 2027 the American military will be barred from using tungsten sourced from China, Russia, Iran or North Korea in any of its equipment. European Union regulators are also studying strategic reserves of critical minerals, with tungsten on the list. Almonty’s assets in South Korea, Portugal and Spain sit squarely outside those exclusion zones, making them natural alternatives for defence and aerospace contractors that need compliant supply chains.

Analysts have responded with enthusiasm. Alliance Global lifted its price target from US$19.25 to US$26.25 and reiterated a buy. Texas Capital initiated coverage in April with a buy and a US$25 target. Nine analysts collectively rate the stock a “strong buy,” and the number of institutional funds holding Almonty shares surged by more than half in the past quarter to 107 — a clear signal that professional money sees the producer narrative as credible.

The stock market has already priced in much of the optimism. Almonty’s shares have gained 134 percent since the start of the year and 629 percent over twelve months. Trading at C$28.10, the equity sits 76 percent above its 200-day moving average and about 12 percent below its 52-week high of C$32.07.

Sangdong, after more than three decades of idleness, is now processing 640,000 tonnes of ore annually, yielding roughly 2,300 tonnes of tungsten concentrate. The ore grade of 0.51 percent tungsten trioxide is about three times the global average, and management claims the mine would remain profitable even if the tungsten price collapsed to US$350 per metric tonne unit — compared with the record above US$3,200 seen in early May. Phase 2, expected to be completed in 2027, will double capacity to 1.2 million tonnes of ore per year, at which point Sangdong could cover roughly 40 percent of world tungsten demand outside China.

Beyond Sangdong, the company’s pipeline includes a potential restart of the Los Santos mine in Spain and the Gentung project in Montana. For now, all eyes are on the Korean asset. The 9 June shareholder meeting will test whether governance and financing can keep pace with the operational ramp — a question that a fresh CFO and a cash-flow-positive quarter make considerably easier to answer.