smf

[smf @smf852]

@zannymb @elonmusk @andrewrsorkin What a ratio.

[smf @smf852]

@TexasAustyn Praying for days like this.

[smf @smf852]

@justinvansant @Chandler_Rome @TheAstrosLocker @TheAthletic Earth shattering.

[Jamie Metzl @JamieMetzl]

I am a lifelong Democrat. I served on President Clinton’s National Security Council and in the State Department under Madeleine Albright. I am also a lifelong human rights and civil rights advocate.

But every Democrat and every American should recognize that the DSA represents a fundamental threat to our party and our country.

This is not a story about a few idealists seeking to reduce healthcare costs. It is about a small group of radical extremists pursuing a strategy to take over the Democratic Party and ultimately our country in order to impose an agenda that would devastate our economy and fundamentally dismantle our system of government.

Don’t take my word for it. Listen to the full conversation between Fox News’ Martha MacCallum and New York City DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo and judge for yourself.

[smf @smf852]

@jakeglmn Hydrogen

[Exploration Edge @EdgeExploration]

#Tungsten's run is still the cleanest critical-metals story: Rotterdam APT near US$3,185/mtu, up ~350% YTD and ~900% over 12 mo's. With DFARS banning Chinese tungsten from US defense supply by Jan '27, every non-China past-producer is suddenly reviving.

https://t.co/HXtMjrQDVr

[Respeculator @respeculator]

Have you ever seen anything like it? #tungsten

[Oliver Groß @minenergybiz]

Tungsten - One of The Most Important Among Critical Raw Materials ⚡️

[Marc Andreessen 🇺🇸 @pmarca]

I have never been so bullish on the United States of America.

[Pete Hegseth @PeteHegseth]

God is good.

[Jukan @jukan05]

EXCLUSIVE: "Worse Than the Iran Helium Problem"... Semiconductor Industry Faces 'Tungsten Crisis'

"Helium can be sourced from the U.S. or Russia. For tungsten, there's nowhere to go but China."

While concerns over semiconductor process material procurement — including helium — have emerged in the wake of the Iran war, the semiconductor industry points to tungsten hexafluoride (WF6) as an even more urgent supply risk.

Japanese suppliers, which account for roughly 25% of global WF6 supply, have signaled production cuts in the second half of the year. The reason: China's tightening of tungsten export controls toward Japan has made it difficult for them to secure raw materials.

According to multiple industry sources on April 3, Japanese WF6 suppliers such as Kanto Denka and Central Glass began notifying Korean semiconductor companies — including Samsung Electronics and DB HiTek — of raw material supply disruptions starting last week. A source familiar with the matter said, "They indicated they can maintain supply through May–June using existing tungsten inventory, but cannot guarantee anything beyond that for the second half." The source added, "They asked Korean clients to seek alternatives such as SK Specialty or Foosung."

Samsung Electronics has a higher dependence on Japanese WF6 than SK Hynix, making the switch to domestic suppliers more urgent. SK Hynix is reportedly in a relatively better position, as it already sources some volume from SK Specialty, Foosung, and the Chinese supplier Peric. Meanwhile, some foundries are now under pressure to fast-track process qualification of Korean-made WF6 — a procedure that typically takes over 18 months, parts of which are now being skipped given the urgency.

WF6 is a critical precursor used to deposit tungsten films on semiconductor wafers. These tungsten films serve as pathways for electrical signals within chips. While WF6 is used across DRAM, NAND, and logic, consumption is overwhelmingly concentrated in 3D NAND — its vertically stacked cell structure means that at 200 layers, tungsten must be deposited 200 times. A technology transition to replace tungsten interconnects with molybdenum is partially underway in leading-edge NAND processes, but full-scale adoption will take considerable time.

WF6 manufacturers import Chinese tungsten powder, react it with fluorine gas at high temperatures, then distill and purify it into high-purity gas for semiconductor use. China accounts for 80% of global tungsten powder supply.

Since February of last year, China has imposed an export licensing regime on strategic minerals including tungsten. On top of that, following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan in January of this year, China added export controls on "dual-use" items destined for Japan. Tungsten powder qualifies as a dual-use item — it is both a semiconductor material and a component used in weapons systems including tanks, missiles, and aircraft.

As China's export controls have taken hold, tungsten prices have surged relentlessly. Tungsten powder prices have risen 6–7x over the past year. According to Bloomberg, the international benchmark price for ammonium paratungstate (APT) — the raw material for tungsten powder — has climbed 557% since February of last year.

South Korea remains relatively free from China's export controls, and SK Specialty and Foosung have maintained their tungsten powder imports. However, SK Specialty has reportedly notified customers of a more-than-double price increase for WF6. Foosung is taking the same stance, as the cost structure is identical. An industry source said, "The bottom line is that domestic WF6 suppliers stand to benefit from the windfall."

[Michael Sikand @michaelsikand]

The most asymmetric Iran War trade isn't oil, plastic, or fertilizer.

It's Tungsten.

And the upside is explosive whether the war ends or not.

APT (the key tungsten raw material) was $320 in early 2025. Today it's approaching $3,000. Nearly 10x in 13 months.

It's because China imposed export controls on 41 tungsten product codes. Exports dropped to zero. And for the first time ever, China became a net IMPORTER.

The country controlling 79% of global production can't supply itself...

Meanwhile the US and Israel have burned through unprecedented volumes of munitions across the Middle East, and NATO stockpiles are already depleted from years of supplying Ukraine.

The Iran war is exacerbating an already historic supply crunch.

Tungsten is in every artillery shell, tank penetrator, missile counterweight, gyroscope, and radiation shield NATO builds. When fired at 1,700 m/s, it doesn't come back. Zero recycling. Gone forever. Rheinmetall is scaling to 1.1M shells/year. Russia burned 4.5M rounds in 2024 alone.

Only TWO western producers exist at scale. $ALM trades at $6B MC. $EQR.AX trades at $1B MC.

Yet $EQR.AX produced nearly 3x more tungsten last quarter than $ALM. It sits on 11.27M mtu worth $24.8B against a $1B market cap.

It's the lowest cost western producer. Two operating mines. First positive cashflow already hit.

Me and @KawzInvests just dropped our Tungsten deep dive on Substack. It's the most comprehensive deep dive into the tightest critical mineral market since Lithium in 2021.

S/o @BULLOFBRITAIN for being one of the first to call this insane trade.

It's a lottery ticket but the odds aren't random.

[First Squawk @FirstSquawk]

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES A DEAL WITH BOEING AND LOCKHEED MARTIN TO INCREASE PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF PAC-3 MSE SEEKERS BY THREE TIMES, ACCORDING TO A STATEMENT.

[CNBC International @CNBCi]

Prices of three niche elements — tungsten, sulfur and helium — have climbed sharply in recent weeks, in some cases by more than oil.

➡️ The surge indicates how ripple effects from the Middle East conflict could end up restricting production of the semiconductors that power artificial intelligence advances.

➡️ Beijing started to ramp up its control over the critical supplies even before the Iran war started on Feb. 28, partly as tensions with the U.S. escalated over the last few years.

Click here to read more: https://t.co/TZd5QQLarU

[Patriot Critical Minerals @PCM_corp]

#Tungsten Price Surge Continues!
Tungsten APT 88.5% WO3 (Rotterdam/Baltimore duty-free) just hit $2,800 - $3,150/mtu.
+53% in one month! 📈

This is the strongest momentum we've seen in years.
The breakout is real. Supply is tightening fast and strategic demand keeps pushing higher.

Patriot Critical Minerals is positioned at the heart of this strategic shift with our MEGA Project in Nevada, the largest SEC-compliant tungsten resource in the U.S.

#CriticalMinerals #StrategicMetals #defense #aerospace #CriticalMetals #AmericaFirst #SupplyChain

[Andrea Hotter @AndreaHotter]

#Tungsten APT 88.5% WO3 min cif Rotterdam and Baltimore duty-free, +12.26% on the week at $2,800-3,150/mtu WO3

[smf @smf852]

@TexansCommenter You called it!!

[smf @smf852]

@IvoAI3 They have close to 3 million shares…

[MINING.COM @mining]

Tungsten outshines gold and copper in a massive 557% rally.

While gold and copper have dominated headlines, the "munitions metal" has quietly become the world's best-performing commodity. Driven by a severe supply crunch and soaring defense demand, tungsten prices have surged 557% since late 2023.

The Breakdown:
- Tungsten is essential for armor-piercing munitions and aerospace components.

- China controls ~80% of global production, creating tight supply conditions for Western buyers.

- Prices have reached record highs as Western nations develop new projects, including Almonty’s Sangdong mine.
Read the full story: https://t.co/Vk0kl9wELZ
#Tungsten #CriticalMinerals #MiningNews #Commodities #Defense #SupplyChain

[Bloomberg @business]

A metal used in weapons and semiconductors finds itself the subject of geopolitical tensions as Chinese export limits and rising military demand squeeze supplies, sending prices to record highs https://t.co/gOf25FgK5p