The small metals sector surged, with ZY-Tungsten and Jinchuan Group hitting the daily limit, while Yunnan Tin and Dongfang Tantalum rose over 8%, driving the rare metals ETFs including GF CSI Rare Metals Theme ETF, ICBC CSI Rare Metals Theme ETF, E Fund CSI Rare Metals Theme ETF, Harvest CSI Rare Metals Theme ETF, Huafu CSI Rare Metals Theme ETF, and Fortune CSI Rare Metals Theme ETF up over 3%.

The rare metals ETFs track the CSI Rare Metals Theme Index, covering strategic resources such as lithium, rare earths, tungsten, and molybdenum, with weighted stocks including Luoyang Molybdenum, Northern Rare Earth, Salt Lake Industry, Huayou Cobalt, Ganfeng Lithium, Tianqi Lithium, China Tungsten High-tech, Xiamen Tungsten, Tianhua New Energy, and Yunnan Tin.

On the news front, due to the tightening of overseas supply chains and the explosive demand from downstream sectors, the supply-demand gap continues to widen, leading to a significant surge in the price of tungsten hexafluoride. According to monitoring by the BuyHuaPlast Research Institute, as of now, the price of tungsten hexafluoride with a purity of 99.999% in China is between 1670-1810 RMB/kg, an increase of 232.7% compared to the same period last year (523 RMB/kg).

Core suppliers such as SK Specialty and Foosung in South Korea have officially notified chip giants like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix that they will significantly raise the price of tungsten hexafluoride in 2026, with an expected increase of 70% to 90%.

Additionally, Kanto Chemical and Central Glass in Japan have informed South Korean semiconductor customers like Samsung that their inventory can only last until the end of May to the end of June, and that supply in the second half of the year cannot be guaranteed, suggesting they seek other suppliers.

Currently, the global supply-demand gap for tungsten hexafluoride continues to widen, with prices soaring exponentially, leading to a significant increase in demand for upstream tungsten concentrate, which supports its spot prices.

On the policy front, the Implementation Regulations of the Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China will officially take effect on June 15, officially listing 36 key minerals including rare earths, tungsten, lithium, cobalt, gallium, and germanium in the national strategic mineral resource directory.

CICC believes that the global tungsten supply shortage will continue until 2027, with overseas tungsten inventories at historical lows. The urgent need for countries to increase tungsten "strategic reserves" reinforces the logic of supply-demand tightness, and after a short-term drop in tungsten prices, they are expected to stabilize and strengthen. The bullish logic for the medium to long term continues to strengthen, with accelerating demand from emerging industries such as AI, maintaining the global tungsten supply-demand tightness.

Goldman Sachs stated that the global resource logic is shifting towards "heavy asset scarcity revaluation," with germanium, gallium, tungsten, and antimony among rare metals constrained by export controls, and tin ore resources nearing depletion, leading to significant supply hard constraints. On the demand side, there is rigid pull from sectors such as AI solder and photovoltaics, highlighting price elasticity and revaluation space, becoming a core direction for institutional funds to cluster.

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