New US Fed Chair Set to Take Office, Futures Prices Fluctuate Amid Bull-Bear Standoff [SMM Tin Midday Review]

SHFE Tin Midday Review, May 20, 2026

The most-traded SHFE tin contract was in the doldrums, opening at 410,770 yuan/mt and closing at 403,550 yuan/mt in the morning session, down 1.41%. LME moved sideways, with LME three-month tin temporarily quoted at $51,760/mt, edging up 0.19%.

Macro front:

(1) This week, US President Trump, who had been pressuring the US Fed to cut interest rates, softened his tone, saying he would let incoming Fed Chairman Warsh act on his own judgment. The market now sees a 60% probability of the US Fed raising interest rates before December.

(2) The May LPR quotes were released: the over-5-year LPR was 3.5%, unchanged from last month; the 1-year LPR was 3%, unchanged from last month.

Spot side, downstream end-users maintained a cautious attitude toward purchases. Market transactions were mostly small-batch spot orders, with downstream enterprises procuring around rigid-demand orders, and overall market trading activity remained mild.

Overall, on the macro front, apart from adjustments in liquidity expectations, no clear signals have been released, while industry chain fundamentals have seen no new changes either, with supply and demand remaining stagnant on both sides. The most-traded SHFE tin contract is expected to continue moving sideways in the short term. Going forward, the futures price center will need to continue tracking marginal fluctuations in macro capital sentiment, as well as the actual pace of overall supply-side recovery in ex-China major producing regions in May.