Aug 6, 2026 Tin Midday Review
The futures center softened today. The most-traded SHFE tin contract (sn2609) opened at 433,510 yuan/mt, shot up to 439,750 yuan/mt before giving back gains, and closed the morning at 431,990 yuan/mt, up 0.26% from the previous settlement. Open interest decreased by 1,438 lots to 60,982 lots. On the LME, tin drifted lower, with the three-month LME tin contract extending its decline to trade at $56,100/mt, down 1.58%.
Macro front:
(1) The US ADP employment data for July showed an increase of only 44,000, significantly below the market expected 70,000 and the downwardly revised 95,000 for June, marking the smallest increase since January this year. This reflected a cooling US labor market and raised near-term concerns about macro momentum.
(2) Iran's Foreign Ministry stated that an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz with Oman is close to being reached. Two existing shipping lanes in the strait will be closed, and the new route will partially pass through Iran's territorial waters and will also be temporary (expected to be usable for 2 to 4 months). The ministry also clarified that there are no plans for Iran's Foreign Minister or Parliament Speaker to visit Pakistan or Qatar.
Spot market, overall trading remained sluggish. As futures prices overall stayed high, downstream and end-user buyers maintained a strong wait-and-see sentiment, with little appetite for initiating price negotiations during the day, and purchases were mostly made in very small volumes at minor lows after futures pullbacks. The market was dominated by need-based orders, mostly sporadic deals of single-digit tonnage, with large-scale purchases remaining very subdued.
In summary, SHFE tin futures today shot up near the 440,000 yuan/mt mark before pulling back under resistance, underscoring the resistance in the upper region. From a macro perspective, the weak US ADP data dampened expectations for economic strength. On the fundamentals side, the high absolute prices clearly constrained end-use consumption. Although low domestic inventories and the slow supply recovery from Myanmar and Indonesia still provided support to the bottom, the willingness of funds to break through upward slowed amid clear resistance at high levels. In the near term, the most-traded SHFE tin contract is expected to consolidate amid tussles between longs and shorts.
![ADP Miss + LME Tin Night Session Breaks Through 57,000, SHFE Tin 2609 Closes at 438,200, Up 1.70% [SMM Tin Morning Brief]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/bYFQn20251217171752.jpg)
