COVID-19 takes a toll on China’s tin ore imports, end products exports

SHANGHAI, Mar 9 (SMM) – China’s tin ore imports and end products exports are expected to take a hit from the global impact of coronavirus, while the export of refined tin from China may feel a limited impact from the epidemic due to the already closed import arbitrage window. 

Virus-related transport restrictions and disrupted production at mining companies in Myanmar, a major supplier of tin ore for China, resulted in smaller imports of Myanmar’s tin concentrate to China in recent months. 

Market participants expect some small amounts of tin ore shipments to enter China in the near term, but the continuity in the tin ore supply remains uncertain. 

On the refined tin front, China imported 3,005 mt of refined tin in 2019, showed customs data, with materials from Indonesia accounting for 64% and cargoes from Malaysia taking up 14.15%. 

Exports of refined tin from mainland China stood at 6,099 mt last year, with 62.7% of the products destined for Hong Kong, 10.1% for Japan, and 9.46% for Italy. 

On the end products front, export orders of home appliances shrank significantly in January-February, which was seen to reduce demand for upstream refined tin and tin products. 

The latest customs data showed that China exported 339.07 million units of home appliances in January-February, down 21.2% from the same period last year.