WJ-WON Sees Inventory Value Rise by 400 Billion Won Driven by Tungsten Surge

With the price of tungsten, a key raw material for cutting tools, soaring by more than six times, WJ-WON is expected to experience accelerated performance growth. The tungsten price jumped from around $50 in the first half of 2025 to over $300 since June 6.

Last year, WJ-WON recorded sales of 639.3 billion won and operating profits of 66.5 billion won, representing growth of 11.2% and 19.2% respectively compared to the previous year. Its net profit increased by 49.1% to 25.3 billion won. Notably, the company’s inventory assets worth over 400 billion won are set to benefit significantly from this price surge.

Since cutting tool products have no expiration date, the company can maximize its margins by selling existing inventory at the elevated product prices.

As smaller companies with limited cash flow struggle to purchase tungsten at prices that have risen five to six times, market share is expected to shift toward global top-tier firms like WJ-WON. This trend is likely to strengthen the company’s monopolistic position further.

Strong performance in related industries also acts as a positive factor. Ongoing large-scale aircraft sales by Boeing and various geopolitical conflicts are driving increased demand for defense and aviation-related machine tools and cutting tools.

Additionally, WJ-WON’s proactive investment in automation is worth highlighting. The company invested over 40 billion won to expand an automated factory at its Incheon Seooun 1 plant and is also advancing automation at Seooun 2 plant, aiming for full operation in the first half of 2027. Automation has improved production efficiency by 25% to 30% per unit of equipment produced, reduced human error due to fewer workers, and lowered the overall defect rate from the 1% range to the 0% range. The cost savings from reduced labor further enhance expectations of record-breaking performance this year.