US takes $450 million stake in Elmet to secure tungsten supply

What happened

The United States government is buying a $450 million stake in tungsten producer Elmet to loosen China’s grip on a metal vital for making high-tech weapons, from F-35 fighter jets to nuclear submarines.

The Department of War is injecting the cash through redeemable preferred equity, targeting a critical supply bottleneck that currently threatens more than 100 American defence programmes.

Tungsten is prized for its extreme hardness, density, and ability to withstand intense heat and pressure. These traits make it nearly impossible to replace in high-performance military hardware. Yet the West is heavily reliant on foreign suppliers. China currently controls roughly 85% of the world’s tungsten supply, alongside 40% of the market for molybdenum, another key material processed by Elmet.

Expanding domestic manufacturing

Under the deal, Elmet will funnel more than $165 million into expanding its manufacturing and processing plants in Maine, Michigan, and Ohio.

The funding will also help build what the department described as North America’s only independent ammonium paratungstate facility. Refining this chemical compound is a vital middle step in tungsten processing, and currently represents one of the biggest chokepoints in the American military supply chain.

"Expanding domestic tungsten processing will strengthen supply chain resilience, support high-quality manufacturing jobs, and reinforce the production base behind essential defence systems," Mike Cadenazzi, the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, said in a statement.

Beyond its US operations, Elmet plans to use the capital to shore up mining and processing partnerships in Australia and Spain. To manage the raw materials flowing from these mines to its factories, the company is launching a new division called Elmet Refining & Trading.

Weapons programmes supported

The Nasdaq-listed company is currently the only US-owned, fully integrated producer of tungsten and molybdenum. Its components are used in a wide array of high-profile weapons, including the Patriot PAC-3, Javelin, and Precision Strike missiles, THAAD missile defence systems, and both Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines.

The funding is being routed through the government's Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment programme, alongside a newly created Economic Defense Unit. The unit was set up earlier this year to coordinate economic initiatives and fast-track production across the defence sector.

George K. Kollitides II, director of the Economic Defense Unit, said the investment is designed to "bring tungsten-processing capacity home to the United States and strengthen the industrial might that powers and protects our way of life."

Impact on jobs

The expansion is expected to create high-tech jobs in Coldwater, Michigan, and Lewiston, Maine, while protecting existing manufacturing roles in Euclid, Ohio. It is also expected to boost mining employment in Nevada.

Downstream, the department expects the investment to support roughly 1,200 jobs across Elmet’s wider network of manufacturing, engineering, and logistics partners.

The Elmet Group’s chief executive, Peter V. Anania, said the cash injection would accelerate the firm's growth following its stock market debut earlier this year and its recent expansion into Europe.