The US Awaits Inflation to Return to the US Fed's 2% Target Level; Domestic Spot Market Transactions Remain Sluggish [SMM Tin Morning News]

The US Awaits Inflation to Return to the Fed's 2% Target Level; Domestic Spot Market Transactions Remain Sluggish [SMM Tin Morning Brief] On Tuesday, US Fed's Barkin stated that he would adopt a wait-and-see approach to the central bank's interest rate policy until inflation clearly returns to the Fed's 2% target level. Barkin noted that the current uncertainty, whether driven by trade and other policy changes under the Trump administration or other factors, requires the central bank to remain cautious when concluding the fight against inflation. He believes that under such uncertainty, it is challenging to make significant monetary policy adjustments. Therefore, he prefers to wait and see how this uncertainty unfolds and how the economy responds. Barkin also mentioned that interest rates should remain moderately restrictive until officials are more confident that inflation is returning to the 2% target. However, recent spot market transactions have remained sluggish, with most traders reporting sales of less than 10 mt, while a few traders managed to sell around one truckload. Traders generally reported low purchase willingness from downstream clients, with most adopting a wait-and-see attitude. Some downstream enterprises indicated that post-holiday orders are relatively weak, coupled with pre-holiday inventory preparations, leading to overall low purchase demand. If SHFE tin prices continue to hover at high levels, the spot market is expected to remain sluggish.