SMM Tin Morning Brief, April 23, 2026:
Futures: The most-traded SHFE tin contract opened slightly lower during the night session and then fluctuated upward, closing at 394,040 yuan/mt, up 0.62%.
Macro: (1) Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla plans to spend approximately $3 billion to build a chip R&D factory in Texas, as part of the early stages of the company's efforts to establish large-scale chip manufacturing capabilities. The facility will be built within Tesla's Texas Gigafactory campus and will only be able to produce several thousand chips per month, intended to serve as a testing ground for new technologies and processes. SpaceX will lead the early stages of the project named Terafab, and Intel has signed on to support the effort, contributing its expertise in chip design, manufacturing, and packaging. (2) The Bank of Korea said on Thursday that global demand for AI technology drove export growth, and the South Korean economy rebounded strongly at the beginning of the year. GDP grew 1.7% QoQ in Q1, reversing the contraction in Q4 2025 and marking the fastest growth since Q3 2020. The figure exceeded the consensus expectation of 0.9% in institutional surveys and even surpassed the most optimistic forecasts. Data showed that chip exports rose 139.1% YoY in Q1, with the growth rate more than tripling from the previous quarter, and overall monthly export growth hit new highs since 2021. Construction investment and equipment investment grew 2.8% and 4.8%, respectively. However, risks remain for the outlook of the South Korean economy, which has seen unstable growth momentum in recent quarters. Consumer confidence fell to a 10-month low in March as the Iran war cast a shadow over the growth and price outlook.
Fundamentals: (1) Supply side: Most smelters focused on maintaining stable production in April. (2) Demand side: Downstream procurement remained cautious, with purchases made based on order conditions.
Spot market: Futures fluctuated and held steady yesterday, with elevated prices limiting follow-through buying. Downstream enterprises generally maintained a wait-and-see attitude, and all parties remained cautious about the subsequent price trend.
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