Lianyou Metal (7610) fell limit-down for a second straight session after market concern spread from a public security case involving the head of Taiwan industry peer Jing Yuan Tungsten Cobalt, according to ABMedia. Lianyou said in a material disclosure that its operations were not connected to the incident, but the stock still came under heavy selling pressure. It closed at TWD 1,350, down 50% from its record high of TWD 2,730 reached in early July.
Tungsten remains a strategic material for defense and chips
ABMedia said tungsten has drawn growing attention as geopolitical pressure and rapid development in the semiconductor sector put more focus on supply chain security. The metal has a melting point of 3,422°C and is known for its extreme hardness, which gives it applications across defense, advanced semiconductor manufacturing, and precision heavy industry.
In defense, tungsten is used in missile warheads and armor-piercing ammunition. In semiconductors, tungsten hexafluoride is a key gas used to build nanoscale tungsten plugs in advanced chips and 3D NAND flash memory. The report said China controls more than 80% of global tungsten capacity and has been tightening exports, a factor that has increased the metal’s strategic value.
Lianyou’s recycling model and market position
Founded in 2018, Lianyou Metal is described as Taiwan’s first Innovation Board-listed company focused on rare metal recycling and refining. It operates a circular-economy model, sourcing industrial waste domestically and overseas and refining it into sodium tungstate and cobalt sulfate.
ABMedia reported that Lianyou is currently one of the world’s top three sodium tungstate manufacturers outside China. Because 100% of its products come from recycled resources, the company has become an option for technology manufacturers in Europe, the U.S. and Japan seeking a non-China supply chain and compliance with standards such as the Responsible Minerals Initiative, or RMI, as well as ESG-related carbon reduction requirements.
Financial performance had supported the stock before the sell-off
The report said Lianyou had posted strong financial results before the recent slide. In the first quarter of 2026, gross margin reached 73.88% and earnings per share came in at TWD 10.87. June consolidated revenue, disclosed in early July, was TWD 750 million, up 22% from the previous month and 555% from a year earlier.
Second-quarter 2026 consolidated revenue totaled TWD 1.9 billion, up 92% quarter on quarter and 450% year on year, both record highs. The stock had risen to a record TWD 2,730 in early July before reversing sharply over the past two sessions.
Peer incident triggered fear across a small domestic supply chain
ABMedia said the immediate trigger was a public security case in Pingtung involving the head of Jing Yuan Tungsten Cobalt, another Taiwan company with the ability to produce ammonium paratungstate. Because both firms belong to a small group of tungsten and cobalt recycling and smelting companies in Taiwan, the market began to question the stability of the broader recycling supply chain.
Lianyou maintained that its business was operating normally and had no relation to the incident. Even so, the combination of a high starting valuation and risk-off selling added short-term liquidity pressure, pushing the shares into a second consecutive daily limit-down move.
Attention shifts back to fundamentals and trading constraints
The article said some market analysts believe the long-term picture has not changed, including the structural shortage in tungsten and the effect of Chinese export controls. It also said Lianyou’s production capacity and existing orders have not suffered substantive damage from the incident.
Some market views cited by ABMedia said the back-to-back limit-down sessions mainly reflected panic tied to the headline and a reshuffling of holdings. The report added that investors are likely to keep watching actual supply-demand conditions in rare metals when assessing valuation and future earnings potential.
ABMedia also noted that Lianyou is listed on Taiwan’s Innovation Board, where ordinary investors must first apply through a broker to qualify before placing orders. The requirements listed in the report include two years of securities trading experience and either proof of assets of TWD 2 million or average income of TWD 1 million over the past two years. The stock’s daily trading volume is only around 1,000 lots, making liquidity another factor investors need to consider.