A Cost Correction With a Clear Turning Point

Tungsten carbide powder is now quoted at around CNY 950 per kilogram, according to industry observation published by CLS Finance News Agency. That is more than fifty percent below the year high of CNY 2,350 per kilogram recorded in mid-March. For cutting tool plants, the third quarter has turned into a low-price restocking window. For circular saw blade buyers, the same number carries a second message: the price-gap dividend that supported margins earlier this year is entering its final phase.

The Numbers Behind the Signal

Why Circular Saw Blades Feel This First

Tungsten carbide is the functional core of hard-alloy saw tips and cermet cold saw blades. In a typical TCT circular saw blade, the tip is where the cutting actually happens, and the material cost of those tips moves almost in step with powder prices. Two consequences follow immediately.

The first is relief. Saw blade manufacturers that buy powder, carbide rods or finished tips on the spot market see their material cost fall sharply, and part of that relief can be passed into quotations for the second half of the year.

The second is compression. Suppliers who purchased heavily at CNY 2,300 or above built inventories whose book cost no longer matches the market. Their headline prices may still look competitive, but the margin advantage that once came from that inventory gap is closing. Meanwhile, competitors who restock in Q3 are building a lower cost base — and that, not the old inventory, will set the price benchmark from the fourth quarter onward.

What a Shrinking Price-Gap Dividend Really Means

For saw blade suppliers

• Stock timing decides competitiveness. Q3 restocking at the new price level is the single most effective cost lever of the year.
• Price cuts that quietly downgrade the carbide grade are a trap. Once raw material stops being the differentiator, buyers compare grade, tip geometry and consistency.
• Margin defence moves to yield and service. Fewer rejected tips, tighter tensioning control and reliable delivery become the profit source.

For buyers and importers

• The deepest discount has probably passed. Waiting for a further collapse may simply cost you the Q3 restocking window.
• Ask what the quotation is built on. A price is only meaningful with the carbide grade, tip dimension and coating specified.
• Use the window to renegotiate volume terms, not just the unit price.

Practical Actions for the Q3 Window

1. Confirm your supplier's actual restocking position — whether the quote reflects the new CNY 950 base or an older inventory cost.
2. Fix prices for confirmed volumes in writing, with a stated validity period.
3. Require grade and specification discipline: carbide grade, tip size, tooth geometry, run-out tolerance.
4. Validate with a production batch before scaling to an annual agreement.
5. Keep a second qualified supplier ready, so raw material volatility never becomes a line-stopping event.

Conclusion

Carbide powder at CNY 950 per kilogram is good news for the cost structure of circular saw blade manufacturing. It is not a signal to keep waiting. The price-gap dividend earned on expensive inventory is fading, and the market is repricing from the bottom up. In the coming quarters, orders will be won by suppliers with a disciplined grade strategy and a reliable restocking plan — and by buyers who lock in the Q3 window instead of watching it close.