TIN: Prices outpace rising production costs
TIN: Prices outpace rising production costs Global primary tin production cash costs rose 4.2% in 2025, driven particularly by higher royalties and declining grades, while the annual average tin price soared 13.0%.
Stronger by-product revenues offset these rising costs, limiting the net-of-by-product cash cost rise to just 0.9%.
Cost performance ranges widely in the tin industry, with very high-grade operations placing alongside artisanal mines at the lower end of the curve, while the top end of the curve is dominated by Asia ex-China producers mining low-grade deposits.World mine production fell by 0.7% in 2025 as Indonesia’s recovery was offset by substantial declines in Myanmar, Bolivia, and Brazil.
Cost pressures are expected to intensify in 2026. Higher oil and freight prices are affecting diesel-intensive and remote operations, while a weaker US dollar will increase reported costs where expenditure is denominated in strengthening local currencies.
Indonesian producers face increasingly challenging operations with declining grades and an effective royalty rate of 10%. Similarly, Myanmar’s 30% tax-in-kind places its mines in a challenging position as producers try to restart large-scale mining in the country’s northern Wa region.As in 2025, rising metals prices are expected to provide relief in 2026 to polymetallic mines.
While we forecast limited recovery in production in Myanmar and high prices will incentivise greater production from artisanal mines, operational constraints and policy-led disruptions will continue to restrict supply elsewhere.
