JA Sodium Tungstate_Redacted.pdf

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

HEADQUARTERS

8725 JOHN J. KINGMAN ROAD

FORT BELVIOR, VIRGINIA 22060-6621

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition

Sodium Tungstate

1) Identification of the agency and contracting activity:

Requiring Activity:

Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Strategic Materials (DLA SM) 8725 John J Kingman Road Ft Belvoir, VA 22060-6221 Point of Contact: Sarah MacLean, Contracting Activity:

DLA Contracting Services Office – Columbus Division # 3 (DCSO-C3) 3990 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43218 Points of Contact: Mitchell Hatfield, Contract Officer;

Adam Contracting Specialist.

2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved:

DLA intends to solicit and award an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for sodium tungstate with a five (5)-year ordering period utilizing fixed-price delivery orders. DCSO-C3 seeks the authority to solicit and award the requirement on an other-than-full-and-open competition basis. DLA anticipates awarding the contract in . This is a first-time buy of sodium tungstate for DLA SM.

3) Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

DLA SM intends to issue a sole-source, fixed-price contract to obtain sodium tungstate over a five-year period from Tungco, Incorporated (Tungco, Inc.) (CAGE: 6XF87) for storage in the National Defense Stockpile (NDS). Sodium tungstate can be readily transformed into the forms needed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and is a shelf stable form of tungsten that can be utilized in defense systems. Tungsten is a critical component of numerous DoD systems including

This action has an estimated value of .

4) Identification of statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority for this non-competitive action is 10 U.S.C. § 3204(a)(3)(A) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-3 (a)(2)(i), which states that “[f]ull and open competition need not be provided when it is necessary to award the contract to a particular source or sources in order to maintain a facility, producer, manufacturer, or other supplier available for finishing supplies or services in case of a national emergency or to achieve industrial mobilization,” which per subsection (b)(1)(iv)(A) may be appropriate when it is necessary to “create or maintain the required domestic capability for production of critical supplies by limiting competition to items manufactured in the United States or it outlying areas.” Additionally, Executive Order (EO) 14241 (Immediate Measures To Increase American Mineral Production) states: “It is imperative for our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent”; EO 14154 (Unleashing American Energy) states: “The high energy costs devastate American consumers by driving up the cost of transportation, heating, utilities, farming, and manufacturing, while weakening our national security. It is thus in the national interest to unleash America's affordable and reliable energy and natural resources”; and Executive Order 14156 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency) references the urgency to address the strategic materials crisis. Within these documents, the urgency to stockpile these materials utilizing the fullness of the industrial base is addressed. It is therefore appropriate that this statutory authority allows for use of other than competitive procedures in the event that only one domestic source is available to supply strategic materials to the National Defense Stockpile.

5) Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

, causing non-availability of ore-based tungsten material to many end users.

Given the constraints mentioned above, DLA-SM aims to not impact the market for Tungsten through removal of additional ores and concentrates from the supply chain. Tungsten metal can be produced via two pathways, starting either with tungsten ores and concentrates or with sodium tungstate.

Tungsten Ores and Concentrates have limited availability in the current marketplace, and as such over-acquisition of this material by DLA-SM would prevent current end users from acquiring this material.

This would violate the stockpile act language in 50 U.S.C. Sec. 98e(b)(2)-(2), which states that efforts shall be made in the acquisition and disposal of such materials to consult with producers and processors of such materials to avoid undue disruption of the usual markets of producers, processors, and consumers of such materials and to protect the United States against avoidable loss. This leaves the second pathway of production of Tungsten metal, which starts with sodium tungstate, as the only viable solution to acquire material in addition to the material to be acquired via the Tungsten Ores and Concentrates Stockpile acquisition. Sodium Tungstate can be produced via two pathways, either reclamation of scrap material or via conversion or ores and concentrates into the sodium tungstate.

Acquisition of sodium tungstate produced via conversion of ores and concentrates would be counterproductive to the above rational as it would still remove ores and concentrates out of the supply chain. Therefore, DLA-SM intends to limit this acquisition to companies capable of reclaiming sodium tungstate from scrap material; these types of companies are referred to secondary producers.

Therefore, to allow for a maintained supply of tungsten during a national emergency, it is critical for the NDS to establish supplies of tungsten or stable tungsten precursors without impacting tungsten ores and concentrates supplies. Per market research, the only domestic secondary producer of sodium tungstate, Tungco, Inc., is able to provide the NDS with material without causing critical impacts to DoD end users. Per FAR 6.302-3(a)(2)(i), a sole-source IDIQ to Tungo, Inc. is permissible as the award will allow it to maintain facilities, production, and/or manufacture for supplies or services in the case of a national emergency. Moreover, as stated in FAR 6.302-3 (b)(1)(iv)(A) this procurement will allow Tungco, Inc. to maintain required domestic capabilities in the U.S. for production of sodium tungstate, which is critical for DoD applications.

6) Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

As this proposed action will be executed as a Request for Proposal (RFP) under FAR Part 12 and Part 15 procedures utilizing the combined synopsis and solicitation procedure under FAR 12.603, it will be synopsized/solicited on SAM.gov for approximately two weeks which will afford potential offerors a reasonable opportunity to respond.

7) A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer anticipates that the final price for the sodium tungstate in this justification for other than full and open competition will be determined fair and reasonable based on either a comparison of proposed prices with the independent government cost estimate (IGCE) or other means outlined in FAR 15.404-1(b)(2). An IGCE was provided that sufficiently demonstrates the market research that was conducted, the basis of estimates, cost calculations, and the appropriate validations.

In addition, the material being provided by Tungco, Inc. is the only domestic material and is considered “commercial,” and the terms and conditions found at FAR 52.212-4 contain the same and/or similar language found in most commercial agreements used within the industry and defined as “commercial” in accordance with FAR 2.101. The Contracting Officer will only proceed with the planned action after evaluating and confirming that the resulting price is fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 15.404. The Government may require other than certified cost/price data if deemed appropriate.

8) Description of market research conducted and results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted:

Market research was conducted via a combination of efforts including discussions within the U.S.

Government, including Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as well as discussions at defense conferences. This market research indicated that Tungco, Inc. is the only company capable of producing this material domestically.

DLA SM conducted a Request for Information (RFI) under notice ID SP8000-26-R-SODI, which was posted on SAM.gov on September 25, 2025 and closed on October 9, 2025. Three responses were received; however, only one of the three responses obtained, which was from Tungco, Inc., provided relevant information and responses to the RFI and indicated legitimate ability to produce the required material. Another response, from , indicated capability to procure the needed material but only from international manufacturing sites. The final responder, , did not provide any information or capability statement relevant to the RFI.

9) Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

None.

10) Listing of sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisitions:

11) Actions, if any, the agency will take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

DLA Strategic Materials has a Broad Agency Announcement to provide interested companies an opportunity to seek funding to become qualified manufacturers for any strategic materials authorized under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. § 98 et seq.). Interested sodium tungstate companies were encouraged to submit a proposal to request funding to qualify their material(s); no awards have been made for the qualification of sodium tungstate in the past five (5) years. Tungco Inc. submitted a proposal and was given an award for establishment of domestic production of sodium tungstate from secondary sources. This was awarded under DLA contract SP8000-24-P-0003, with period of performance from August 2024 until August of 2025. After completion of this award, they were established as the sole domestic secondary producer of sodium tungstate, as recognized by several tungsten metal producers. Additional projects focused on the domestic production of sodium tungstate would be welcomed for review by DLA-SM in the future.

Title III efforts through MCEIP are established to develop a robust industrial base within the United States, its outlying areas, and Canada. No projects have been awarded, as of now, for sodium tungstate production. Project proposals submitted to Title III efforts focused on domestic production of sodium tungstate via secondary refining would be considered for award via standard Title III and MCEIP operations. DLA-SM intends to continue to conduct market research to see if additional sources of this material develop.

12) Certifications and approval

Requirements / Technical Certification

I hereby certify that the supporting data for which I am responsible, and which form a basis for this justification are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

DANIEL J. ROSEN

Material Engineer DLA Strategic Materials

Contracting Certification

I hereby certify that the information contained in this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. The estimated total contract value of this acquisition is

MITCHELL HATFIELD

Contracting Officer DLA Contracting Services Office

I hereby certify and approve this justification.

MATTHEW R. BEEBE

Senior Procurement Executive DLA Acquisition