SHFE Tin Fluctuated Downward to Temporarily Settle at 405,000; Spot Market Saw Bargain-Hunting Orders Driven Mainly by Rigid Demand [SMM Tin Midday Review]

Published: May 19, 2026 11:49

Save

[SMM Tin Midday Review: SHFE Tin Fluctuated Downward and Temporarily Settled at 405,000; Spot Market Saw Bargain-Hunting Orders Mainly Driven by Rigid Demand]

Tin Midday Review, May 19, 2026

SHFE tin opened slightly higher in the night session yesterday, then fluctuated downward during this morning's session, opening at 314,990 yuan/mt and closing at 405,180 yuan/mt, currently down 0.43%. LME tin was in the doldrums, with three-month London tin temporarily quoted at $52,145/mt, down 1.14%.

On the macro front:

(1) Multiple US media outlets reported on May 18 that Kevin Warsh would be sworn in as Chairman of the US Federal Reserve on May 22. A White House official stated that US President Trump would hold the inauguration ceremony for Warsh at the White House.

(2) Trump said that at the request of Middle Eastern countries, the attack on Iran originally scheduled for Tuesday was postponed. He stated that once an acceptable deal could not be reached, a massive full-scale military strike against Iran should be ready to be executed at any time.

Spot market, the pullback in absolute prices provided some stimulus for downstream purchases, but market sentiment remained cautiously biased, with transactions mainly driven by rigid-demand spot orders. Current mainstream brand quotes were concentrated in the premium range of 1,000–1,500 yuan/mt.

Overall, ex-China news currently lacked clear directional guidance, and sellers and buyers were in a stalemate. The center of the most-traded SHFE tin contract is expected to continue probing lower in the short term, with futures overall maintaining a fluctuating trend. Subsequent attention should be paid to whether clear one-sided news guidance emerges, as well as the actual support strength of low-level bids in the spot market.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

4 hours ago

Ganzhou Yunsheng Tin Co., Ltd. Invites You to the 2026 SMM (16th) Tin Industry Chain Conference

4 hours ago

5 hours ago

[SMM Tin News Flash: Dell's AI Business Accelerated Expansion, "AI Factory" Client Count Grew by 1,000]

Dell Technologies said it added 1,000 new clients to its primary AI product line over the past quarter, underscoring that the company is accelerating efforts to capture demand from traditional large enterprises looking to adopt AI workloads. Dell CEO Michael Dell said in an interview that the number of clients for the company's "AI Factory" had reached 5,000, up from 4,000 when earnings were reported in February. The product line primarily offers servers equipped with Nvidia chips, software, and services to support AI computing. Clients using the system include Eli Lilly, Honeywell, and Samsung Electronics, with applications spanning drug R&D and AI-optimized semiconductor factory construction, among others.

5 hours ago

[SMM Tin Flash: He Lifeng Met With Chilwee Semiconductor Board Chair and CEO Su Zifeng]

He Lifeng, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, met with Lisa Su, Chair of the Board and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), at the Great Hall of the People on the afternoon of the 18th. He Lifeng noted that last mid-week, the heads of state of China and the US held an important meeting in Beijing and reached a series of important consensuses. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the economic and trade teams of both countries achieved overall balanced and positive outcomes, which will inject greater certainty and stability into the next steps of China-US economic and trade cooperation and the world economy. He welcomed multinational companies, including AMD, to seize China's development opportunities and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation. Lisa Su spoke positively of the outcomes of the meeting between the two heads of state and expressed willingness to continue expanding business in China and steadily increasing investment in the country.

5 hours ago