Tin Price Outlook
Tin prices rose considerably in the past few weeks, continuing on the upward trend that began in mid-December amid tightening supply and strengthening demand. On 9 February, tin traded at USD 21,125 per metric ton. The figure was up 5.8% from the same day in January and was 5.1% higher on a year-to-date basis. Furthermore, it was up 10.9% from the same day last year. Once again, upward price pressures were underpinned by both demand- and supply-side factors. While a fundamentally balanced market kept prices broadly unchanged in 2017, tight supply drove tin prices up at the start of 2018. Inventories at the London Metal Exchange warehouses fell in January to the lowest level since the 1980s, robustly pushing up prices. Moreover, delays in shipments from Indonesia were recorded in January due to bad weather conditions; further pressure on prices came following the release of data on China’s tin trade in 2017. Chinese imports plummeted year-on-year, mainly due to a strong decline in shipments from Myanmar, while exports boomed. Analysts fear that the supply gap in China will hardly be offset by increased domestic production.
Source: https://www.focus-economics.com/commodities/base-metals/tin
