Chinese refined tin imports were 2,324 tonnes in October, down by 30% month-on-month and 42% year-on-year. This was still a high volume, especially as there has been no price arbitrage space for general imports since September. Cumulative imports in January to October were 25,284 tonnes, up by 72% y-o-y. Tin concentrate imports (gross weight) also fell sharply to 780t, down from 2.2Kt in September.
The increase in imports in the year to date has been partly offset by the decrease of the production. Refined tin production was 120,175 tonnes in January to October, down by 6% y-o-y, according to the data from CNIA. But we believe that tin stocks in China may have continued to rise. It is reported that consumption, especially in the solder industry is still weak.
