Solid Carbide Tools: How to Cope with the Tungsten Price Shock

Anyone ordering solid carbide tools right now can’t believe their eyes. While uncoated carbide rods were priced at around 30 euros per kilogram in October, in May 2026 the price settled between 200 and 240 euros per kilogram. That’s an 800% price increase in seven months.

There are two strategies to counter the extreme price increase for solid carbide tools: using tools more efficiently and maximizing precision in regrinding processes. 

ZOLLER offers the right solutions for both through tool measurement technology, tool inspection technology, and digital tool management.

Tungsten: An Important Raw Material Sees Rising Prices

The factor driving up prices is well known: tungsten. Tungsten is indispensable for solid carbide tools, not least because of its melting point of 3,422 °C—no other element can withstand higher temperatures. In tools, tungsten occurs as tungsten carbide. 

The key indicator in international pricing is the intermediate product ammonium paratungstate (APT). In October 2025, the price stood at around 580 euros per ten kilograms (equivalent to one metric ton unit, MTU). But China, which holds eighty percent of tungsten deposits, restricted tungsten exports in early 2026, setting off alarm bells on the global market. By early June 2026, the price had skyrocketed to around 2,560 euros and experts say the price situation is unlikely to change much in the medium term.

Limited Recycling Potential

There is no material that can replace tungsten in solid carbide tools, nor does tool recycling offer sufficient potential to bridge the supply gap. According to 2023 figures from the European Commission, the recycling rate for tungsten stood at 42 percent, and a recent statement by the European Cutting Tools Association (ECTA) says available facilities are operating at near full capacity. The cycle is at its limit.
 

Where a Lot of Money Is Lost: Tool Preparation

Increasing tool efficiency is one of the most important actions a manufacturing facility can take. This means reducing tool wear and making the most of tool life. As a result, tool preparation is gaining importance as a strategic cost-saving measure. In the past, minor oversights in handling tools hardly mattered. In 2026, everything is different. Tool life has become too valuable to be wasted.
 

Adjustment, Measurement, and Balancing Extend Tool Life

Tool life is inextricably linked to precise measurement data on tool geometry and imbalance. Tool cutting edges have been proven to withstand the stresses of the manufacturing process longer when the tool and CNC machine are matched using geometric data.

Tool measurement machines like ZOLLER’s »smile« and »venturion« capture comprehensive, µm-accurate data on a tool’s concentricity, clamping length, and geometries. This enables a CNC machine to machine with significantly greater precision and less tool wear. Additionally, ZOLLER’s presetting and measuring machines are designed to automatically transfer the data to the CNC machine in a format compatible with the control system, so there are no errors or loss in efficiency.

Integrating tool balancing into tool preparation extends tool life further. Balancing reduces wear on the cutting edges and relieves stress on expensive machine spindles. Empirical data from ZOLLER customers show that this can double tool life, and ZOLLER’s »toolBalancers« perform this precision task with balancing results of < 0.4 gmm.
 

Managing Service Life in Digital Tool Management

In modern tool management, tool service life is a key component of every tool record. You can't make the most of tool life if you don't know what it is, and the limitation often lies in the tool management systems themselves, as many solutions cannot automatically update remaining service life. This results in a lack of data necessary for greater tool efficiency.

ZOLLER’s TMS Tool Management Solutions can automatically read remaining service life data from the CNC machine and store it in the respective tool record, enabling you to select tools for a production run and use them right up to their technical limit. With continuous service life monitoring, you can prevent tools from being discarded too early or overused beyond their service life.
 

The Tool Storage Cost Trap

When tool prices are high, it’s important to keep other cost factors as low as possible. This includes unproductive search times in tool storage. Every minute spent searching delays quick tool changes and prolongs costly machine downtime. 

You can easily avoid such cost traps with the combination of TMS Tool Management Solutions and ZOLLER’s Smart Cabinets, which keep your tool storage organized. You can select the right tools and access them immediately without time-consuming searches, which helps keep costs under control.
 

Making the Right Decision: Should You Regrind or Retire a Tool?

You can make a reliable decision regarding a tool's end-of-life scenario if you have a clear picture of the tool’s wear. The »pomBasic« series of tool testing machines from ZOLLER, designed for use right at the production line, simplify this decision. In just a few seconds, the machines can record over 70 tool parameters and provide clear information on whether you should regrind or scrap.
 

Wear Testing Soon Available with Presetting and Measuring Machines

Analyzing tool wear based on data is more important today than ever before. ZOLLER has recognized this need and will soon enable meaningful wear testing using the »smile« or »venturion« presetting and measuring machines. The next software update will include the »wearCheck« function. Specialized devices such as »hobCheck« will also benefit. After the update, you’ll be able to not only measure gear cutting tools but also check them for wear.
 

Grinding Shops: Key to Efficient Tool Life Cycles

Many tool cutting edges can be reconditioned after being used in production. The success of this process depends on the precision work performed by grinding shops. 

ZOLLER also offers the right products to meet the challenges of “regrooving.” With »pomBasic«, grinding shops can check grinding results directly at the machine in a process-oriented manner and have correction data transferred to the CNC machine.

Another comprehensive solution for wear inspection is the »edgeControl« tool measuring machine. It automatically creates a 3D model of the cutting edge and analyzes it in full. For grinding shops striving for peak performance, this is an indispensable specialized machine.
 

Tungsten Is Not an Isolated Case

On the global market for tool-related metals, there are other key players influencing prices. Cobalt, for example, has risen in price by about 65 percent year-over-year and has one major producer—the Democratic Republic of the Congo—with a market share of just over 70 percent. Additionally, the price of molybdenum has climbed by about 25 percent over the past twelve months and remains stable.

The situation in the solid carbide business is complex. The most powerful lever manufacturers have is to maximize their tooling potential.