2020 was a difficult year for tin producers. In many countries, the spread of the coronavirus saw lockdown measures that closed smelters and halted production. In total, ITA estimates that 327,200 tonnes of refined tin were produced in 2020. This was a nearly 8% drop...
Myanmar has been thrust into the spotlight after a coup saw the country’s military take control from the government. The country is the world’s third largest producer of tin concentrates, and a major source for China’s smelters. One of the biggest...
In August, Myanmar experienced extremely heavy rains, leading to flooding. The high waters constrained mine production in the country, a major source of tin concentrates for smelters in China. The flood waters have still not been cleared, leading to lower shipments...
Yunnan Tin, one of the world’s most significant refined tin producers – and China’s largest – began commissioning its new smelter last Thursday. In July 2013, the company announced that it would move its main smelting facility from the centre...
Despite significant falls in tin consumption earlier in the year, demand for the metal in China has recovered well. In fact, with smelters including Yunnan Tin closed for maintenance over the June-July period, the country imported large amounts of refined tin....
Despite a shrinking arbitrage, official Customs data shows that China imported a large amount of refined tin in July – 2,750 tonnes – a six-fold increase from 2019. Imports year-to-date reached 12,113 tonnes, eleven times higher than the same period last year. As a...
The Baiyinchagan mine is set to come back online after the local government approved its mining license on 27 July. The mine, located in Inner Mongolia, China, was closed in early 2019 after a fatal accident. At the time, it was estimated that the mine would close for...
Last week, the Yunnan government announced that it would offer incentives for producers in the province to stockpile up to 40,000 tonnes of tin. The stockpiling efforts were initially announced back in April, although only the total for all base metals was announced –...
China has continued its recent trend of significant imports of refined tin: the latest official data shows a nearly 2000% increase from May 2019. According to the latest China Customs data, China imported 3,674 tonnes of refined tin in May 2020. This is a 1762%...
With the SHFE-LME arbitrage still wide, China continues to import record amounts of refined tin. The latest China Customs data indicates that the country imported 1,183 tonnes of refined tin in April. While this is level with March’s total, this is up some 773%...
