The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract in the Night Session Saw Small Fluctuations and Pulled Back, with Downstream Enterprises Mostly Adopting a Purchasing-as-Needed Strategy [SMM Tin Morning Brief]

April 2, 2026 SMM Tin Morning Briefing:

Futures: The most-traded SHFE tin contract saw small fluctuations and pulled back in the night session, closing at 373,310 yuan/mt, up 0.31%.

Macro: (1) It was learned from Xidian University that the team led by Professor Hu Huiyong successfully developed a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) chip based on silicon-germanium technology, significantly reducing the manufacturing cost of short-wave infrared detection technology. This breakthrough was expected to enable high-end chips that originally cost thousands of US dollars per unit to enter fields such as smartphones and automotive LiDAR at one-hundredth of the cost. (2) It was learned from Hainan Power Grid Corporation that NEV charging volume in Hainan exceeded 700 million kWh in Q1 this year, up nearly 40% YoY, while the charging and battery swapping network remained in high-load operation, becoming an important support for green travel in tourism, consumption, transportation, and other sectors. After the Hainan Free Trade Port launched island-wide independent customs operations, multiple factors—including the Chinese New Year cultural tourism consumption boom, rising oil prices, and the accelerated deployment of the new energy heavy-duty truck industry—combined to sustain the new trend of green travel in Hainan, injecting green momentum into the high-quality development of the Hainan Free Trade Port after the customs closure. According to statistics from Hainan's "One Network" charging and battery swapping platform, the cumulative number of charging sessions at NEV charging stations across the province exceeded 12 million in Q1 this year, with a daily average of more than 120,000. To date, registered users on Hainan's "One Network" charging and battery swapping platform had exceeded 300,000, with cumulative access to 5,855 charging stations and 95 battery swapping stations, about 73,000 charging guns connected, 100% access to public charging piles across Hainan Province, and the basic realization of the goal of "one app for smooth travel across the entire province."

Fundamentals: (1) Supply side: Most smelters maintained stable production in April. (2) Demand side: Downstream purchasing remained cautious, with procurement based on order conditions.

Spot market: Yesterday, prices in the tin ingot spot market rose sharply under the dual drivers of macro tailwinds and a tight balance in fundamentals, but high prices suppressed actual trading activity. The market showed a pattern of "prices rose but transactions were scarce," and downstream enterprises mostly adopted a purchasing as needed strategy.

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