Intel Relents and "Agrees" to Sell 10% of Its Shares to the US Government, SHFE Tin Prices Maintain a Fluctuating Trend [SMM Tin Morning Brief]

SMM Tin Morning Briefing on August 25, 2025:

Futures: The most-traded SHFE tin contract (SN2509) pulled back slightly after a continuous rise in the night session, closing at 268,400 yuan/mt, up 0.79% from the previous trading day.

Macro: (1) On August 23, Xiong Jijun, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), emphasized at the 2025 China Computing Power Conference that MIIT will guide the construction of computing power facilities in an orderly manner to effectively improve the quality of computing power resource supply. It will promote the improvement of the policy system for computing power layout, optimize the layout of computing power infrastructure, guide localities to reasonably arrange intelligent computing power facilities, and continue to carry out the construction of national green data centers. It will strengthen the position of enterprises as the main body of innovation, promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, accelerate breakthroughs in key core technologies such as GPU chips, and expand the supply of basic and common technologies. (2) Intel Agrees to Sell 10% Stake to US Government - US chipmaker Intel announced on the 22nd that it has reached an agreement with the US federal government, under which the latter will invest $8.9 billion in Intel's common stock, acquiring 9.9% of the company's shares at a price of $20.47 per share. (3) Data shows that in recent years, the total scale of China's computing power has grown at an annual rate of around 30%. Driven by the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the demand for intelligent computing power has shown a sharp increase. The head of the MIIT stated that they will guide localities to reasonably arrange intelligent computing power facilities, gradually improve the quality of intelligent computing power supply, and meet the needs of emerging and future industries. Currently, intelligent computing power has been widely applied in areas such as generative large models, autonomous driving, embodied intelligence, smart cities, and industrial manufacturing. Through computing power application competitions, more than 23,000 innovative computing power projects have been collected, achieving scaled replication and promotion in industries such as industry, finance, healthcare, and energy. It is expected that by 2025, the growth of China's intelligent computing power scale will exceed 40%.

Fundamentals: (1) Supply-side disruptions: Overall tin ore supply in major production areas like Yunnan is tightening, and some smelters may maintain production cuts or undergo maintenance in August (bullish ★). (2) Demand side: PV industry: After the installation rush, orders for photovoltaic solder strips in east China have declined, and the operating rates of some producers have decreased; Electronics industry: In south China, the electronics terminal market has entered the off-season, coupled with high tin prices, leading to a strong wait-and-see sentiment among end-users, with orders only maintaining just-in-time procurement; Other sectors: Such as tinplate and chemicals, demand remains stable without any unexpected growth.

Spot market: At the beginning of the week, the market was sluggish: Downstream buyers mainly made just-in-time procurement, and high prices suppressed transactions, with traders refusing to budge on prices and downstream buyers adopting a wait-and-see attitude, creating a tug-of-war. By the end of the week, the market recovered: After the tin price fell below 266,000 yuan on August 22, it stimulated downstream restocking willingness, increasing spot inquiries, but overall transactions still mainly consisted of "small orders for just-in-time procurement," and the market activity was less vibrant than expected.

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