The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Fluctuated and Rebounded in the Night Session, Returning Above the 390,000 Threshold [SMM Tin Morning Brief]

March 10, 2026 SMM Tin Morning Update:

Futures: The most-traded SHFE tin contract fluctuated and rebounded in the night session, surging sharply late in the session, and closed at 397,630 yuan/mt, up 3.51%.

Macro: (1) Xingchen Technology stated at its earnings briefing that in 2026, the company’s product mix will be comprehensively upgraded to advanced process nodes. It is expected to launch one LiDAR chip and three 12nm chips. All new products are positioned in the mid-to-high-end, high-gross-margin segment, which will effectively boost the continued increase in ASP and gross margin, further optimizing the profit structure. These include automotive LiDAR chips, embodied AI robots and edge computing chips, advanced intelligent driving and smart cockpit chips, and second-generation mobile imaging device chips (AI glasses chips). Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, the company’s investments and M&A are expected to continue focusing on areas highly synergistic with its core business, with an emphasis on identifying quality targets in core tracks such as connectivity, automotive, and embodied AI robots; meanwhile, it will strengthen efforts to identify opportunities for industrial and supply-chain synergies. (2) The People’s Government of Jinshan District, Shanghai, and Alibaba Cloud officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two sides will accelerate the construction of the Alibaba Feitian Cloud Intelligence East China computing power center and build a hyperscale computing power center based on the “Zhenwu” chip. The center will become one of the largest intelligent computing hubs in east China, supporting Shanghai’s development as a leading AI hub. Under the new cooperation agreement, the center will prioritize deployment of T-Head’s “Zhenwu” computing chips. By building a full-stack, self-controlled computing foundation spanning underlying chips, intelligent computing platforms, and upper-layer applications, it aims to become a benchmark for green computing power centers. Leveraging the Alibaba Cloud Jinshan computing power center, Alibaba Cloud and Jinshan District will jointly promote the development of the computing power ecosystem, supporting Jinshan District’s development of an all-time, all-area AI city.

Fundamentals: (1) Supply side: In March, most smelters were expected to gradually resume production and operations, ending the holiday mode. (2) Demand side: Downstream purchasing was relatively cautious. Downstream enterprises were expected to gradually resume production and operations, but orders were mediocre.

Spot market: Recently, futures prices fluctuated frequently. Some suppliers suspended quotations and stayed on the sidelines, waiting for further market guidance, and overall trading interest was weak. Downstream, when prices fell earlier, long-tight sentiment eased somewhat. Coupled with uncertainty about the market outlook, most restocking demand was released around 380,000. Although the most-traded contract price continued to weaken, with end-user follow-through relatively slow, no clear acceleration was seen in the drawdown of industry-chain inventory, and trading this morning was mainly small volumes and small lots.

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