Almonty's Tungsten Supply Chain Wins Favor in Washington as Sangdong Ramps Up
Published on 08/26/2026 at 08:51 | Editorial boerse-global.de
The geopolitical chessboard of critical minerals is shifting under Almonty Industries' feet, and the Toronto-based tungsten producer is positioned to benefit from a regulatory environment that increasingly favors non-Chinese supply. Washington's Bureau of Industry and Security published a temporary rule on August 6 compelling US buyers to prioritize tungsten deliveries from outside China, a directive that lands squarely in Almonty's lap as its South Korean Sangdong mine transitions from construction project to functioning producer.
A Market Splitting in Two Directions
The policy intervention arrives at a moment when global tungsten markets are fragmenting along geographic lines. Mining capacity outside China covered only about 37 percent of worldwide demand in 2025, according to market observers, and the gap between announced projects and actual output remains substantial. Meanwhile, Chinese domestic prices for ammonium paratungstate corrected downward by roughly a quarter between July and early August, while the Western reference price in Rotterdam held nearly steady. That divergence underscores how differently the two markets are behaving — and how valuable a non-Chinese source like Sangdong becomes in such an environment.
Adding another layer, the US government has imposed a one-year export restriction on tungsten scrap effective August 27, requiring all monthly scrap sales to go to domestic buyers to secure defense supply chains. Almonty CEO Lewis Black, in a mid-August note to investors, described supply bottlenecks that, given strategic stockpiles and semiconductor shortages, are "no longer ignorable."
Production Finally Flows
The regulatory tailwind meets a company that has moved decisively from blueprint to output. Sangdong commenced throughput operations in early July, processing stockpiled material into saleable tungsten concentrate — a meaningful shift from prior quarters when Almonty was primarily communicated as a construction story.
The financials reflect the transition. Second-quarter revenue climbed to 43.0 million Canadian dollars, a 498 percent year-over-year surge, with adjusted EBITDA reaching 17.6 million Canadian dollars. The headline net profit of 181.8 million Canadian dollars, however, owes much to non-cash valuation gains of 173.1 million Canadian dollars from derivatives and warrants.
Contract visibility has also improved. The revised supply agreement with Global Tungsten & Powders, updated in early July, extends the term to 21 years, boosts contracted volumes by 40 percent, and improves pricing terms by roughly 6.3 percent. With over 1.23 billion Canadian dollars in cash following June's oversubscribed convertible bond offering of 800 million US dollars, Almonty has ample runway to fund Sangdong's ramp.
A Stock That Has Run — But Not Peaked
Equity markets have taken notice. The shares have gained 104 percent since the start of the year and 340 percent over twelve months. Yet the stock remains 21 percent below its 52-week high of 20.61 euros, reached in mid-April, suggesting the rally has room to breathe even after such a run. The shares traded at 16.05 euros on Tuesday, up from a prior close of 15.59 euros, and sit 21 percent above their 50-day average — a staggering 383 percent above the 52-week low of 3.33 euros.
The buyback program announced last month, worth 300 million US dollars, continues to hover in the background as a supporting factor, having added 3.0 percent since its inception.
Streamlining the Corporate Structure
A quieter but operationally significant development: Almonty will delist from the Australian Securities Exchange on September 1, with the final trading day for its CHESS Depositary Interests set for August 28. Management cites a desire to concentrate liquidity on the Nasdaq and Frankfurt listings, signaling a strategic pivot toward North American and European investors as the Asia-Pacific venue fades in importance.
Meanwhile, Chinese tungsten pricing signals remain mixed. Long-term procurement offers for wolframite and scheelite concentrates in Guangdong rose by 1,000 yuan per tonne, while ammonium paratungstate offers fell by 6,000 yuan per tonne — a contradictory movement suggesting uncertainty in price discovery along the processing chain, just as Washington moves to reduce its reliance on Chinese supply.
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The convergence of US export restrictions, a functioning Sangdong operation, and a streamlined listing structure paints a picture of a company in transition: from developer to producer, with geopolitical relevance that grows by the quarter. Whether this structural tailwind translates into more stable commodity prices will depend on how Chinese APT quotations evolve in the months ahead.
