I came across mention of a wartime tungsten shipping route from China via Macau to Japan, in the book 'Wartime Macau: Under the Japanese Shadow'. The book claims that:
-page 58, 'Wartime Macau: Under the Japanese Shadow', ed. Geoffrey C. Gunn, HKU Press, 2017.The tungsten trade was facilitated by a Japanese navy group controlling the sea routes, with pirate-smugglers supplying the transport and a Chinese business entity in Guangzhou in charge of sourcing the mineral from the deep interior of China. While the Chinese Nationalists sought to deny Japan access to tungsten, certain renegade Chinese were complicit in the trade ... First entering Macau or its waters, the tungsten ore was transshipped to Hong Kong prior to shipment to Japan.
Could anyone provide more detail on this tungsten shipping ring? For example, info on the individuals and vessels involved? Or more details on the quantity of tungsten moved through this ring during the course of the Pacific War? The book cites a Japanese language source which I am unable to access: "Macau Rekishi Sanpo" (2009) edited by Ogino Junichi.