China's tungsten product exports may rise in July on tax cut
By Li Chunlan
Shanghai. June 23. INTERFAX-CHINA - China's recent tax cut for tungsten product exports is expected to increase the price competitiveness of Chinese exporters and could lead to a higher export volume in July, an industry analyst told Interfax on June 23.
China's Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced on June 22 that it will lower taxes on July 1 for exports of tungsten oxide, tungstate, ammonium paratungstate and ammonium metatungstate, from the current rate of 10 percent to 5 percent.
"This time, the export tax cut applies to a large proportion of Chinese tungsten product exports, which means that exporters can lower their prices. For example, the 5 percent export tax cut on tungsten trioxide will save exporters around RMB 5,500 ($804.81) per ton, which they could pass on to their customers," analyst Yang Zhaohui, from Beijing Antaike Information, said.
However, Yang said the tax cut would not bring about a strong rebound in Chinese tungsten product exports in July and the remaining months of the year as international demand will remain sluggish due to the ongoing global financial downturn.
China exported 523 tons of tungsten products, measured by tungsten metal content, in May, down 29.42 percent from April's level. In the first five months of 2009, tungsten product exports, measured by tungsten metal content, shrank by 48 percent year-on-year to 4,677 tons.
The Chinese government's 2009 quota for tungsten product exports is 14,000 tons, measured by tungsten metal content, excluding exports of ferrotungsten.