The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Hovered at Highs After Opening Slightly Higher in the Night Session, with Relatively Strong Purchase Willingness Among Downstream Enterprises [SMM Tin Morning Brief]

March 17, 2026 SMM Tin Morning Briefing:

Futures: The most-traded SHFE tin contract opened slightly higher in the night session and then hovered at highs, closed at 381,840 yuan/mt, up 2.43%.

Macro: (1) The largest union at Samsung Electronics in South Korea warned that if members approve the relevant plan in a strike vote in May, chip production could be disrupted. As the world's largest memory chipmaker, any strike at Samsung could worsen the global semiconductor supply bottleneck. Choi Seung-ho, chairman of the Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU), said at the launch of the vote last week: "I expect production disruptions." The vote will continue through Wednesday. Choi Seung-ho said that if labor and management fail to reach an agreement, the union is expected to hold an 18-day strike starting May 21, which could affect about half of the production at the large semiconductor complex in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul. Samsung's union demands a 7% raise in base pay, the removal of the performance pay cap (currently 50% of annual base salary), and the introduction of a bonus pool based on operating profit. (2) According to TrendForce's latest research on EV traction inverters, global inverter market installations rose to around 9.65 million units in Q4 2025, the highest in nearly two years, driven by year-on-year growth in battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales, reflecting the continued electrification trend and rising penetration of electric drive systems per vehicle. Looking at quarterly trends, inverter shipments already exceeded 8.67 million units in Q4 2024, supported by the peak vehicle sales season. In the same period of 2025, shipments increased again as demand recovered in China and Europe. Although declining costs caused total inverter market revenue to edge down from $5.5 billion to $5.3 billion, the overall pattern remained one of rising volume and stable prices, indicating that while industry competition intensified, technological upgrades continued to support average selling prices.

Fundamentals: (1) Supply side: In March, most smelters are expected to gradually resume production and operations, emerging from the holiday lull. (2) Demand side: Downstream purchase remained relatively cautious. Downstream enterprises are expected to gradually resume production and operations, but order conditions were relatively mediocre.

Spot market: Trading in the spot market was relatively active yesterday. Most downstream enterprises began making small-lot purchases and restocking, with offers posted below 370,000 yuan. Most traders reported transactions of around one truckload yesterday, and downstream enterprises showed relatively strong purchasing willingness.

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