Taiwan’s only producer of ammonium paratungstate, or APT, has come under attention after the head of the company was found dead, while global manufacturers are closely watching tungsten supply following China’s tighter export controls last month.
According to ABMedia, Jing Yuan Tungsten Cobalt Resources Co., based in Pingtung, is the only company in Taiwan capable of producing APT. The company mainly handles the smelting, recycling, and manufacturing of tungsten, cobalt, and other high-value metals. Its annual output can reach 4,000 tons.
The company’s 56-year-old head, surnamed Huang, was recently found dead at his residence. The report said there were visible injuries on his body, and his hands showed suspected signs of being bound.
After Huang had been out of contact for some time, his son went to check on him at the residence where Huang lived alone. Once inside, he found his father lying in a pool of blood with no signs of life and called police.
Police sealed off the scene, collected evidence, and formed a task force to review nearby surveillance footage and examine the victim’s personal and business contacts. Investigators are treating the case as a homicide. The motive, the number of people involved, and whether the case is connected to financial issues, debt, or business disputes remain under investigation.
The report added that there is currently no evidence showing Huang’s death was related to China’s tungsten export controls, rising international tungsten prices, or competition over strategic metal supply chains. Even so, the company’s industry position has made the case a closely watched one.
Jing Yuan Tungsten Cobalt’s role in Taiwan’s supply chain
ABMedia said Jing Yuan Tungsten Cobalt mainly recovers waste tungsten steel, cemented carbide, and tungsten-bearing industrial scrap, then refines tungsten, cobalt, and other valuable metals.
APT is a major intermediate material in the tungsten supply chain. It can be processed into tungsten oxide, tungsten powder, tungsten carbide, and tungsten alloys, and is used in cutting tools, aerospace components, defense equipment, electronic materials, and semiconductor processes.
Taiwan lacks natural tungsten ore, so most related raw materials rely on imports or recovery from industrial waste. That leaves companies with tungsten recycling and APT production capacity holding a distinct place in the island’s key mineral supply chain.
With annual output that can reach 4,000 tons, Jing Yuan Tungsten Cobalt occupies an unusual position in Taiwan’s tungsten materials market. The report noted that, as China holds most of the world’s tungsten mining and processing capacity, local recycling and smelting capabilities in Taiwan are becoming more strategically valuable.
China’s tighter tungsten controls and pressure on manufacturers
The report said China has long controlled much of global tungsten mining output and processing capacity. That has made tungsten an important strategic resource in Beijing’s competition tied to technology and geopolitics.
China had already placed tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, indium, and related items under export controls, requiring exporters to apply for licenses. Last month, scrutiny over China’s review of exports involving tungsten and other dual-use materials intensified again, with Japanese manufacturers feeling clear pressure, according to the report.
An analysis cited from Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research said that after China restricted tungsten supply to Japan, Japan’s imports of tungsten carbide and tungsten powder once fell sharply. That pushed companies such as Sumitomo Electric and Mitsubishi Materials to raise product prices significantly. Some superhard alloys and industrial cutting tools made with tungsten saw price increases of several times, the report said.
The supply squeeze also affected the automotive, machine tool, aviation, and defense sectors, highlighting China’s influence over critical mineral supply chains.
Tungsten’s place in semiconductor materials
Tungsten also matters in semiconductors. Tungsten feedstock can be turned into tungsten hexafluoride, a specialty gas used in chemical vapor deposition processes to form tungsten films and tungsten plugs that connect different circuit layers.
The report referenced an earlier explanation comparing a chip to a skyscraper: transistors sit on lower floors, copper wiring runs above, and tungsten plugs carry current between layers. In chemical vapor deposition, gaseous tungsten hexafluoride can fill deep nanometer-scale holes with precision while offering a high melting point and resistance to current stress.
ABMedia said the material is critical not only in TSMC’s 5 nm and 3 nm logic processes, but also in the control gate structures used in Samsung and SK hynix 3D NAND Flash stacks that can exceed 200 layers. Without stable supply, production of advanced chips and high-performance computing, or HPC, chips could stall, according to the report.
The report also said Japan’s Kanto Denka and Central Glass had previously been mentioned as possibly reducing high-purity tungsten hexafluoride capacity because of difficulties obtaining tungsten raw materials. That raised concern in the market over material supply for TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and SK hynix.
Because Japanese suppliers have held an important position in the global tungsten hexafluoride market, a production cut tied to China’s tungsten controls, higher raw material costs, or supply shortages could shift orders to other qualified suppliers. The report said Linde LienHwa, a joint venture between industrial gas company Linde and Taiwan’s United Group, is seen by the market as one possible beneficiary because it has semiconductor specialty gas supply, purification, and global raw material allocation capabilities.
TSMC said it continues to push supply diversification and multi-source procurement, and does not currently expect the situation to affect operations.