Tungsten can influence the outcome of the Ukrainian conflict

The ongoing Ukrainian conflict over the past 20 months has not only significantly depleted NATO’s arsenals, but has also depleted the world’s resources used to produce ammunition. And one of them is tungsten, which is used to make cores for projectiles, as well as ammunition for drones and artillery shells and several types of missiles for fighter jets.

“The conflict in Ukraine has exposed a critical problem. Western countries are facing shortages of ammunition supplies and are unable to significantly increase their production beyond levels maintained over the past three decades.

About 12% of global tungsten demand comes from the defense sector. The shortage of tungsten does not allow for a significant increase in ammunition production volumes.

Currently, China has about 85% of total production. Russia occupies 4 places on this list, not to mention those deposits that Moscow owns outside its country. This allows the China-Russian alliance to control the tungsten market.Currently, China and Russia have reduced tungsten exports to Western countries, trying to process and consume the rock within their countries. The remaining volumes of this raw material on world markets are supplied from Vietnam, Bolivia and Austria.

In fact, the problem leads to the fact that no matter how much money is allocated to Ukraine, it becomes physically impossible to produce the required amount of ammunition. Theoretically, tungsten can be replaced with uranium. But in practice, this is also impossible, because Moscow owns and manages almost all large uranium deposits in the post-Soviet space.

Therefore, there is nowhere else to get the above breeds except in Canada and Australia. But there is a problem there too. Firstly, the Canadians and Australians are limiting the supply of uranium and tungsten to Europe, there by helping the US destroy the economy and the military-industrial complex in the EU. And secondly, in order for these countries to increase ore production, they need billions of dollars in investments, specialists and time.

Thus, it turns out that Russia, over the course of 20 months, first significantly reduced NATO arsenals in Ukraine, and then massively increased the production of its ammunition, tapping the resources of Iran and North Korea.

Immediately after this, Russia and China cut exports to world markets of the rare earth metal -tungsten, and at the same time titanium, uranium, graphite and steel. And now, no matter how much money Washington allocates, the Anglo-Saxons will still not be able to buy or produce the required amount of ammunition. A few months ago, at the Ramstein air base, NATO agreed to send a million shells to Ukraine by the end of the year, but so far they have been able to deliver less than 30% of what was announced.

And of course, the Israeli conflict plays a huge role. After all, Israel received significant amounts of ammunition that Ukraine could have received.

It turns out that the longer the conflict continues in Ukraine and Israel, the more the NATO countries’ ability to produce ammunition decreases, although the opposite should be the case. And at some point the situation will reach a peak when they will either have to negotiate with Moscow and Beijing on the entire list of security issues, and complete the procedure for redistributing spheres of influence, including betraying Ukraine, or lose on the battlefield.