February 11, 2026 SMM Tin Morning Brief:
Futures: The most-traded SHFE tin contract (SN2603) pulled back after a slight rise during the night session, closing at 386,250 yuan/mt, up 1.06%.
Macro: (1) Last year, Ford Motor lost to BYD in global auto sales for the first time. Ford's wholesale sales fell by nearly 2% last year, slightly below 4.4 million units, falling short of the 4.6 million units sales reported by BYD in January. Data disclosed by the US automaker on Tuesday confirmed that BYD has risen to 6th place in the global auto sales ranking, one spot ahead of Ford. Although Ford's US sales grew last year, it lost ground in Europe, particularly in the Chinese market. (2) Automaker Stellantis (STLA.N) is seeking to exit its US battery joint venture with South Korea's Samsung SDI. This comes after the company announced an asset impairment of over 22 billion euros (approximately $26 billion) last week, as it gradually scales back its EV layout and strives to preserve cash. Exiting the joint venture could be costly and protracted. Stellantis may also sell its stake to a third party. EVs and battery projects are putting pressure on the company after Trump took policy actions to undermine plug-in vehicles, and CEO Antonio Filosa is working to contain related losses. Stellantis and Samsung established the Indiana joint venture in 2021, committing to invest $2.5 billion and create 1,400 new jobs in Kokomo. The plant, Samsung's only battery factory in the US, began production in 2024 and has started producing some battery cells for ESS.
Fundamentals: (1) Supply side: Most smelters are expected to gradually halt operations for maintenance in February, entering the Chinese New Year holiday. (2) Demand side: Downstream purchases are relatively cautious, pre-holiday restocking is basically over, and downstream enterprises will gradually begin to halt production for the break.
Spot market: As the Chinese New Year approaches, logistics have largely stalled, and various segments of the industry chain are generally entering the holiday state. Among downstream producers, some had already taken early holidays during the period of high prices, while others completed phased restocking during the previous significant price pullback phase. Therefore, current purchase willingness is low. Spot transactions are sluggish.
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