South Korea’s Public Procurement Service (PPS) bought 300 tonnes of MSC brand tin on 15 May through a public tender, its second purchase of refined tin this year. The metal will be supplied by Metal Park at a premium of $575/tonne to the LME price cif Incheon, for arrival by 31 August. A third tender for another 500 tonnes (200 tonnes of 99.9% tin and 300 tonnes of 99.85% tin) is due to be held next week. Both the May tin tenders coincide with purchases of copper.

These are the first purchases of tin made since the PPS bought 200 tonnes in February, and it is thought that the recent increase in activity may have been stimulated by lower prices. For 2013 as a whole, the PPS has a tin purchase budget of 2,200 tonnes, the same volume as in 2012. The PPS provides a purchasing service for small and medium-sized enterprises and is gradually building its stocks of tin, by buying more metal than it releases each year. By the end of 2013 it expects to be close to its target of 75 days’ supply or 3,418 tonnes.