Novedades

Secure supply of raw materials in spite of the strained market conditions

We have already reported on the situation in the raw materials market in BETEK News – and also in this editorial. The situation is precarious. Ammonium paratungstate (APT), the base material for the production of tungsten carbide (TC), has not yet finished its high-altitude pricing flight. In November 2003 the price was $60 / MTU, at the end of May it was $250 / MTU (MTU = metric tons unit = 10 kg). And the end of the price spiral is not in sight.

As a result of long-term supply contracts, BETEK's supply of raw materials is guaranteed. Nevertheless, BETEK has to submit to world market conditions as regards pricing and likewise has to buy at the sharply risen raw materials prices. For a long time BETEK was able to counterbalance the price increases, for example by optimising production. However, the raw materials prices have now risen so spectacularly that the purchase prices for wear tools have to be adjusted; a problem which all manufacturers of tungsten carbide products are currently faced with.

The VDMA (association of German machine and plant manufacturers) has announced that the raw material costs in the precision tools field are also steeply rising. "The continued steep rise of the raw materials prices is affecting the precision tool industry badly", stated Dr. Wolfgang Sengebusch, Managing Director of the precision tools professional association in the VDMA in Frankfurt. “The current prices which the raw materials suppliers demand are even more drastic than previously feared. And what makes things even worse: there are no materials for tungsten carbide tools which you could switch to”, explained Sengebusch.