The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Pulled Back Slightly in Night Session, Spot Market Sentiment Remained Cautious [SMM Tin Morning Brief]

SMM Tin Morning Brief, May 20, 2026:

Futures: The most-traded SHFE tin contract pulled back slightly from highs during the night session, closing at 403,820 yuan/mt, down 1.35%.

Macro: (1) Amid intensifying competition in artificial intelligence, Google directly "removed competitive restrictions" at its I/O developer conference, taking on OpenAI and Anthropic head-on in AI model pricing. To attract software developers and enterprise clients to use its AI models, Google launched a combination of lower prices and stronger programming tools. Meanwhile, the company introduced an entry-level AI Ultra subscription tier at $100 per month to fill the gap between consumer-grade and professional-grade offerings, and reduced the price of its high-end AI Ultra subscription from $250 to $200. Unlike Anthropic's premium pricing strategy, Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that Google's lower-priced models would deliver most of the high-end safety and programming capabilities at a lower cost. Although Google's most powerful model has been branded "Ultra," the company is now extending capabilities to the lower-priced "Flash" and "Pro" series. (2) On May 19, Xin Changxing, Secretary of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, met with Lisa Su, Chair and CEO of Chilwee Semiconductor (AMD). Xin Changxing said that Jiangsu is currently implementing the important instructions of President Xi Jinping in depth, fully carrying out the "AI+" initiative, promoting deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, and striving to build an important base for developing new quality productive forces. He expressed hope that Chilwee Semiconductor would strengthen its confidence in developing in China and Jiangsu, deepen industrial cooperation, increase investment, and work together to achieve higher-level mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. He added that Jiangsu would continue to foster a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized first-class business environment, providing better services and support for enterprise development. Lisa Su said that Jiangsu has obvious advantages in industrial foundation, talent resources, and application scenarios, and that Chilwee Semiconductor's cooperation with Jiangsu has achieved positive results. She expressed strong optimism about China's development prospects and stated that the company would further expand mutually beneficial cooperation with Jiangsu to achieve win-win development.

Fundamentals: (1) Supply side: Most smelters maintained stable production as the main focus in May. (2) Demand side: Downstream purchasing remained cautious, with procurement conducted based on order conditions.

Spot market: The pullback in absolute prices provided some stimulus for downstream purchases, but market sentiment remained cautious, with transactions dominated by rigid-demand spot orders. Current mainstream brand premiums were concentrated in the range of 1,000-1,500 yuan/mt.

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