Semiconductor material tungsten supply tightens, exports decrease by 50%, WF ₆ prices soar by 151% Tungsten has high temperature stability and resistance to electrical losses, and is widely used in the two core deposition processes of CVD and PVD in wafer manufacturing, which is indispensable for advanced chip production. But the tungsten supply chain is tightening: China controls approximately 80% of the global tungsten mining, refining, and powder processing capacity. The export volume has decreased by about 50% year-on-year so far this year, and global customers are facing pricing pressure. 2. High purity tungsten metal powder is the main raw material for manufacturing WF ₆ (tungsten hexafluoride), and key suppliers such as SK Materials and Shinetsu Chemical in Japan are facing pressure from reduced imports of tungsten raw materials and rising costs. The price of imported WF ₆ from South Korea has increased by 151% so far this year. As the demand for AI chips grows, industry bottlenecks may shift not only to GPUs and devices, but also to key materials that support semiconductor manufacturing.