The battle for one of the world's most important strategic metals is unfolding in scrapyards, warehouses, and even parking lots across the U.S.

Domestic tungsten recyclers say Chinese buyers are courting domestic suppliers with extraordinary offers. They're paying as much as five times prevailing market prices to secure worn-out drill bits, mining equipment, and industrial cutting tools containing the critical mineral. Long-standing relationships between American recyclers and suppliers are being tested as cash-rich competitors outbid them on the spot.

“They'll say, ‘meet in this Home Depot parking lot’ to buy over $20,000 worth of this stuff,” Nick Stevens, owner of the recycling firm JC Metals, told the Financial Times.

The sector executives see it as anything but ordinary commodity trading. It's a struggle over control of a strategic resource that drives both military readiness and industrial competitiveness.

“We've got to stop the export back to China,” said Ryan McAdams, chief executive of Texas-based recycler Amermin. “This is a secret war that nobody's talking about.”

Structural Shortages and Loopholes

According to Argus Media, U.S. tungsten scrap prices have surged 350% since May 2025, Mining.com reported.

Tungsten went parabolic from September 2025 to March 2026, before giving back much of its gains, CTIA data shows. Yet, the bullish trend has reaccelerated over the past few weeks.

Tungsten has the highest melting point of any metal, alongside exceptional hardness. Those properties make it indispensable for munitions, missiles, aerospace components, mining drills, and other modern manufacturing tools. With such properties, its substitution is nearly impossible.

China controls more than half of global mined and refined tungsten production while accounting for roughly half of worldwide demand. Early in 2025, Beijing tightened domestic mining quotas and imposed export restrictions on metals, including tungsten. Furthermore, Chinese mines have aged and dropped in productivity.

Put together, the current shortage appears structural, rather than temporary.

Although Beijing has historically restricted tungsten scrap imports on environmental grounds, the material still moves through a third-country recycling hub.

Data from the research group Project Blue shows increased exports of U.S. tungsten scrap to the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and South Korea, where it can be processed before potentially re-entering Chinese supply chains.

Domestic Solutions

That dynamic has sparked a debate in Washington. Some recyclers advocate banning exports altogether to preserve domestic supplies. Others argue such measures would backfire.

“We don't have the ability to turn all of that scrap into a finished product,” warned Cliff Nance, chief executive of Tungco. Without expanded refining infrastructure, the U.S. cannot fully utilize its own recovered material.

Recognizing the challenge, Western companies are racing to develop alternative sources.

Great Western Mining Corp Plc (OTC:GWMOF) recently listed on the OTCQB Venture Market, providing access to U.S. investors as it prepares a high-impact drilling campaign at its Nevada tungsten project. The company hopes additional liquidity will accelerate efforts to establish meaningful domestic production.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have invested in Kaz Resources – a company advancing the Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty projects in Kazakhstan, described as the world's largest undeveloped tungsten resource. The $1.1 billion project could ultimately account for approximately 15% of global production.

The company reportedly plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker KAZR and eventually become a major U.S. supplier.