TIN: Indonesian output remains low but is increasing
After reaching an almost two-year high of $34,575 on 20th May, LME 3-month tin price dipped 4% last week, before climbing again to $33,955 on Wednesday. Speculative interest has lengthened slightly after a brief shortening from the all-time-high six weeks ago. Indonesian output remains low but is increasing.
Concerns of low liquidity in the market will have been exacerbated by the announcement of suspensions at some Yunnan smelters for maintenance and environmental inspections, and by the news that concentrate imports from Myanmar fell sharply in April.
The leading producer of the base metal tin in 2023 was China, with an estimated production volume of 68,000 metric tons. Myanmar was the world’s second-largest tin mining country that year, with production estimated at 54,000 metric tons.
The principle of tin smelting is the chemical reduction of tin oxide by heating with carbon to produce tin metal and carbon dioxide gas. In practice, the furnace feed contains the tin oxide concentrate, carbon in the form of anthracite coal or coke, and limestone to act as a flux and a slag-producing agent.
