SHANGHAI, Aug. 18 (SMM) –SHFE 1508 tin closed up RMB 610/mt or 0.58% at RMB 106,210/mt on Monday, with settlement price at RMB 106,520/mt. The amount of delivery for the contract was 122 mt.
In Shanghai spot tin market, trading remained sluggish, causing mainstream traded prices to fall further to RMB 106,300-108,000/mt on August 17. Goods from Yunnan Tin Group traded at RMB 107,000-108,000/mt.
SMM’s latest survey of market players in domestic tin industry reveals the following results:
60% of them are bearish toward tin prices this week. LME tin will look for support at USD 15,000/mt, while SHFE 1509 tin will be vulnerable at RMB 106,300/mt. Spot tin prices in Shanghai will test support at RMB 105,000/mt. Spot tin prices have been falling steadily recently, regardless of changes in SHFE and LME tin prices. This is because of poor domestic demand and high inventories. SMM’s latest survey found that tin stocks in major warehouses in Shanghai have grown significantly. It is the off-season for tin consumption at this year of the year. Slowing Chinese economy and stricter environmental protection inspections have bitten into demand further. Growing output in Jiangxi Province has pushed up market supply.
The rest 40% expect tin prices to stabilize this week. Spot tin should trade between RMB 106,000-108,000/mt. For SHFE tin, there is little room to rise or fall. More and more tin ore suppliers have become unwilling to sell against continuous price declines. This will potentially put tin smelters short of raw materials. Our survey found that some tin smelters in Yunnan cut output in July and might continue doing so in August. These will help put a floor under tin prices.