# CME Targets Early 2027 Launch for Tungsten Futures on COMEX

By Enna Lee

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/36453
Published: 2026-10-21T07:21:24.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-21T07:21:24.000Z
Section: Investing

> The proposed cash-settled contract would track an ammonium paratungstate price. China accounted for about 79% of global tungsten mine production in 2025.

CME Group plans to list cash-settled tungsten futures on COMEX by early in the first quarter of 2027, offering a price hedge for a metal whose mine supply is concentrated in China. The launch is subject to regulatory review.

The proposed contract would use a price assessment for ammonium paratungstate (APT), an intermediate tungsten product, to determine cash settlement. Traders would not have to deliver or receive APT when a contract settles.

Prices would be quoted in U.S. dollars per metric-tonne unit (mtu) of tungsten trioxide (WO₃). Each contract would cover 88.5 mtu, about one metric ton of APT with a minimum WO₃ content of 88.5%.

CME intends to offer contracts covering the current calendar year and the following two years. That would give businesses a way to hedge prices beyond spot transactions in a metal that currently has no futures market.

China mined an estimated 67,000 metric tons of tungsten in 2025, out of 85,000 metric tons worldwide. Its share was about 79%, leaving much of the world’s mine output concentrated in one country.

CME Group Managing Director and Global Head of Metals Jin Hennig said clients are “increasingly seeking to hedge their exposure.”

U.S. defense procurement rules add another consideration for companies supplying the Department of Defense. Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, a clause governing covered contracts will restrict delivery of specified tungsten materials and end items based on where tungsten ore or feedstock was mined or produced and where subsequent production took place.

The clause names China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Its scope runs through production of tungsten metal powder, tungsten heavy alloy, and finished or semi-finished components containing tungsten heavy alloy. It includes exceptions and does not prohibit all U.S. commercial tungsten purchases.

CME expects trading in the proposed contract to begin by early in the first quarter of 2027 if it clears regulatory review.