News

Peruvian refined tin producer Minsur reported that its Pisco smelter in Peru produced 7,034 mt of refined tin in Q2 2026, down 1% YoY. Cumulative H1 refined tin production was 15,349 mt, down 2% YoY. The company attributed the slight decline in tin production to lower head grade at the smelter (a strategic adjustment to maximize recovery), partially offset by higher throughput at the Pisco smelter. By project, the San Rafael underground mine produced 7,359 mt of tin-in-concentrate in Q2, up 14% YoY, with H1 cumulative output of 13,455 mt, up 6% YoY; B2 tailings production rose 11% YoY to 2,152 mt in Q2, with H1 cumulative output of 4,049 mt, up 7% YoY. Total tin-in-concentrate production in Q2 rose 13% YoY to 9,511 mt, with H1 cumulative output of 17,504 mt, up 6% YoY. The head grade at the San Rafael mine in Q2 improved 13% to 2.88% Sn, with H1 average head grade of 2.64% Sn, up 8% YoY. Minsur noted that the ore sorting system processed more low-margin ore.

Australian tin miner Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) released its Q2 2026 operational report. The report showed that the company’s Renison tin mine produced 2,809 tonnes of tin metal in tin concentrates in Q2, down approximately 2.7% QoQ from 2,887 tonnes in Q1. On the production side, ore mined totaled 200,300 tonnes in Q2, down 6.11% QoQ, mainly due to limited availability of loaders, trucks, and hoists, along with stope sequencing delays. The ore grade mined was 1.58% Sn, slightly lower than the 1.63% in Q1. Ore milled reached 183,800 tonnes, up 14.60% QoQ, with mill head grade declining to 1.95% Sn (Q1: 2.24% Sn), and the processing recovery rate was 78.55% (Q1: 80.35%). For the Renison mineral resource update, total resources increased to 21.8 million tonnes at a grade of 1.38% tin, containing 300,300 tonnes of tin. Measured and Indicated tin content rose 7% to 264,100 tonnes. The mine life plan and ore reserve update are expected to be completed in Q3.

Indonesian tin miner PT Timah Tbk (IDX: TINS) released its H1 2026 performance report. The report shows tin ore production in H1 was 12,232 mt Sn, up 75% YoY, including onshore production of 4,716 mt (up 97%) and offshore production of 7,516 mt (up 63%). Refined tin production was 10,865 mt, up 58% YoY; refined tin sales were 10,984 mt, up 85% YoY. On a monthly basis, refined tin production in Q2 2026 was 5,235 mt, down 7.0% from the previous quarter.

The SHFE/LME zinc price ratio pulled back to around 6.8 and consolidated: This week, the ratio pulled back to around 6.8 and consolidated, closing the zinc ingot import window. Outside China, the US Fed stood pat at its July meeting, US GDP and PCE data missed expectations, and the pullback in the US dollar index boosted base metals. Meanwhile, LME inventory dropped to around 100,000 mt, and LME zinc remained relatively strong.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 31 Jul , 2026

[SMM Flash News] National Energy Administration: Driven by sustained improvement in economic operations and hot weather, electricity demand in many regions has continued to grow robustly. The national electricity load has hit a record high three times, peaking at 1.553 billion kW, an increase of about 45 million kW over last year’s peak. Since June, the electricity loads of 15 provincial-level power grids, including Liaoning, Jiangsu, and Hubei, have set new records for a total of 32 times.

[SMM Flash] Bank of England held interest rates steady, with three members voting for a hike.

[SMM Tin Midday Comment: Market Sentiment Driven by Macro and News, Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract’s Center Moved Up and Then Consolidated at Highs]

To all mineral processing enterprises in the Northern Park: In accordance with the spirit of the Notice of the General Office of the People's Government of Yunnan Province on Issuing the Administrative Measures for the Normalized and Stringent Crackdown on Illegal Mining of Mineral Resources (YZB Gui [2025] No. 7), the Notice of the General Office of the People's Government of Honghe Prefecture on Issuing the Work Plan for the Continuous Special Action of Stringent Crackdown on Illegal Mining of Mineral Resources (HZB Fa [2026] No. 31), and the Notice of the General Office of the CPC Gejiu Municipal Committee and the General Office of the People's Government of Gejiu City on Issuing the Special Implementation Plan for Combating Illegal Activities and Violations in the Mineral Resources Field of Gejiu City in 2026 (GBT [2026] No. 22), this plan is formulated. (I) Key Targets of Rectification The targets of this comprehensive governance are all mineral processing, ore washing, and ore processing enterprises within the Northern Park (including processing points at newly built, under construction, suspended, or leased plants) that engage in illegal practices such as purchasing, transshipping, or processing externally illegally mined ore. (II) Key Areas of Rectification 1. Purchasing unidentified raw ore without mining permits, source certificates, or with abnormal transportation trajectories. 2. Large quantities of ore with unclear sources entering the site at night or during holidays, evading regulation to process illegally mined ore. 3. Providing sites, stockpile yards, electricity, and crushing/processing conditions to external illegal mining gangs. 4. Forging ore supply contracts, weighbridge documents, and mining right certificates to conceal the sources of illegal ore. 5. Colluding with external parties to launder illegally mined ore through the Northern Park and produce concentrates for exports. 6. Renting factory areas to set up temporary washing and sorting points to absorb illegal mining products. See the attached figure for other details.

[SMM Tin Morning Brief: SHFE tin 2609 night session rose 2.15% to 426,800, heightened volatility in consolidation at highs above 420,000]

At around 15:30 on July 26, a safety incident occurred during production and construction at the underground Area 3 of Yinman Mining, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xingye Silver&Tin, resulting in one fatality and no other injuries. On July 28, Xingye Silver&Tin announced for the first time that the underground mining areas of Yinman Mining had been suspended, while the beneficiation plant remained in normal operation. At that time, Yinman Mining had approximately 350,000 mt of surface ore, which was expected to support the beneficiation plant's production for about two and a half months. On July 30, Yinman Mining further received an "On-site Disposition Decision" (Xi) Yingji Xianjue [2026] No. 260 issued by the Xiwu Banner Emergency Management Bureau, requiring the simultaneous suspension of the beneficiation and tailings systems. As of the announcement disclosure, Yinman Mining's mining system, beneficiation and tailings systems had all been suspended. The previous plan to sustain beneficiation production using ore inventory could no longer be implemented, directly impacting mineral product production. Yinman Mining has an existing mining and beneficiation capacity of 1.65 million mt per year and is the core tin-silver mine under Xingye Silver&Tin. Xingye Silver&Tin did not separately disclose Yinman Mining's actual copper metal production in 2025. According to the original project design, Yinman Mining's copper concentrates contain approximately 1,100 mt of copper metal per year; Xingye Silver&Tin's consolidated mine-produced copper output in 2025 was 2,380.89 mt. As Yinman Mining's copper production scale is relatively small, this suspension will have limited impact on China's overall supply of copper concentrates, with the impact expected to be mainly concentrated on products such as tin and silver. Going forward, attention needs to be paid to the progress of accident investigation, tailings system rectification, and production resumption acceptance.