Vietnam tungsten giant Masan secures US strategic investor as mainboard listing plan advances

MASAN High-Tech Materials, or MSR, has agreed to sell a 4.99 per cent stake to its long-term US partner The Elmet Group in a deal valuing the Vietnamese critical-minerals producer at US$2.5 billion, as it presses ahead with plans to move its shares to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) in 2027.

Nasdaq-listed Elmet will acquire the stake from a wholly owned subsidiary of Masan Group, which will remain MSR’s controlling shareholder with 87.46 per cent after the transaction, the Vietnamese company said in a statement on Thursday (Sep 24).

Completion is targeted for the first half of October, subject to regulatory and corporate approvals.

The investment comes with an eight-year-plus commercial agreement under which MSR will supply about 1,250 tonnes of tungsten trioxide (WO₃)-equivalent annually to Elmet, generating an estimated US$1.5 billion in aggregate gross revenue for the Vietnamese producer over the initial term at prevailing prices.

The deal coincides with elevated tungsten prices amid constrained supply from China, which dominates global mine production.

That has increased the importance of alternative supply chains for the critical materials used in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing.

“Critical materials are vital to American supply chain security, industrial resilience and next-generation technologies,” said Peter Anania, chief executive of Elmet, a US-based supplier of tungsten alloys and strategic mineral products.

He described Elmet and MSR as “two leaders with deep expertise and complementary capabilities”, adding that the partnership would strengthen their ability to “support critical industries” and “build more secure supply chains for the future”.

Earlier this month on Sep 14, Elmet secured a US$450 million committed equity investment from the United States Department of War to accelerate its domestic manufacturing capabilities and expand agreements with key supply chain partners.

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Separately, a subsidiary of Elmet also secured a contract worth up to US$2 billion from the US Defense Logistics Agency to support the rebuilding of the National Defense Stockpile and strengthen the long-term resiliency of the country’s tungsten supply chain.

MSR chairman Danny Le said that the Vietnamese company is among only a handful globally that are able to produce and refine tungsten at scale.

The investment deepens a commercial relationship between the two companies that has lasted more than 12 years. Elmet has long been part of MSR’s tungsten supply chain, and the new arrangement converts that relationship into an equity investment and longer-term contracted partnership.

The deal also provides a fresh external valuation benchmark for the Vietnamese tungsten producer ahead of its planned move from the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) to HoSE.

As at the Sep 23 close, MSR had a market capitalisation of more than 59 trillion dong (US$2.3 billion) on UPCoM.

Jefferies Singapore acted as MSR’s financial adviser on the transaction.

Expanding production

MSR operates the Nui Phao polymetallic mine, about 100 km north of Hanoi, as well as a large-scale tungsten processing complex in the northern Thai Nguyen province.

The company describes itself as the world’s largest producer of midstream and downstream tungsten products outside of China.

Its earlier growth plan called for tungsten concentrate output from Nui Phao to ramp up from 2027 as mining moves into higher-grade zones, with average annual output between 2026 and 2036 projected at about 3,700 tonnes, roughly double the 2025 level.

The firm is also expanding its processing footprint.

It said that it has the potential to add 115 million tonnes of tungsten-polymetallic resources and lift tungsten oxide capacity to more than 8,000 tonnes of WO₃ annually.

Under the latest agreement, Elmet and MSR also plan to source additional tungsten concentrate from international mines for processing in Vietnam to serve growing global demand, extending MSR’s role beyond its own Nui Phao mine.

Financial performance of the Vietnamese producer so far this year has strengthened, supported by higher tungsten sales volumes, elevated realised prices of ammonium paratungstate (an intermediate tungsten product) and improved operating efficiency.

MSR reported about US$423 million in revenue and US$83 million in net profit for H1 2026, including US$63 million of net profit in the second quarter.

It expects full-year revenue of about US$1.4 billion and net profit of about US$233 million.

That marks a sharp turnaround from the previous phase of the business. MSR recorded net profit after tax of just 11 billion dong in 2025, after losses of more than 1.5 trillion dong in both 2023 and 2024.

The firm also announced a maiden 1.1 trillion dong dividend as it seeks to combine its expansion with recurring shareholder returns.

“(The investment) is the beginning, and we will unlock MSR’s full value for shareholders in Vietnam and beyond,” said Le. THE BUSINESS TIMES