SHANGHAI, Feb 17 (SMM) – SHFE tin has moved all the way down since February, losing as much as 12.38% in half a month. After hitting the highest since June 22, 2022 on January 30, 2023, SMM spot #1 tin prices also kept falling, and stood at 213,500 yuan/mt as of February 15.
Supply: Operating rates of refined tin smelters in Yunnan and Jiangxi kept falling in January, but rebounded after the Chinese New Year, and stood at 49.9% and 50.1% respectively as of February 10.
Domestic refined tin production fell sharply in January, but may rebound to 14,035 mt in February, driven by demand recovery. From a global perspective, as tin ore supply may not increase greatly over the next two years, refined tin supply will face bottlenecks as well.
Demand: Downstream buyers bought on the dip after digesting their raw material stocks.
Short-term tin prices will move wildly, with supply recovering at a faster pace than demand.
