Myanmar outlook falls despite strong October

Despite strong exports to China in October, the outlook for tin supply from Myanmar is weakening due to another outbreak of COVID-19. The latest data from China’s customs office suggests that the country imported some 6,000 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate in October, up...

Tin consumption restricted by China power limits

In the last week of September, the production line of a solder company in Kunshan was silent. In previous years, the factory was busy, stocking up for the National Day holiday. However, due to strict local power restrictions, they have temporarily had to suspended...

COVID controls constrain Myanmar ore shipments

Trade of tin concentrates between China and Myanmar declined in August as coronavirus control measures suspended transport through a crucial border town between the two countries. China imported some 15,557 tonnes of tin ores and concentrates in August, of which 80%...

China exports rise despite tighter market

Despite tightness in the domestic Chinese market, tin exports rose month-on-month in July. Chinese offshore tin trade is determined by the arbitrage between the local price on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and the benchmark price from the London Metal Exchange...

Yunnan Tin posts new profit record

Yunnan Tin Company (YTC) posted record profits over the first half of 2021 on the back of high base metals prices and improved production. With much of the world investing in infrastructure to recover from the economic impacts of the coronavirus (COVID) pandemic, the...

Government agencies re-assess tin stockpiles

The world’s strategic stockpiles of base metals are all active in today’s metals markets after a quiet recent past. However, they have been acting differently in the tin space. There are three major strategic reserves that are active in the tin market: the...

Tighter Chinese market slows tin exports

Chinese exports of refined tin slowed in June as the arbitrage between the Shanghai and London exchanges narrowed. The arbitrage arises from differences in the valuation of tin between the two exchanges. Typically, the Chinese import price – the LME price, minus...

Chinese imports jump as Myanmar backlog clears

Chinese smelters experienced some relief to their tight raw materials supply chains as imports of tin concentrate from Myanmar jumped in June. The latest customs data, which is reported as gross weight, indicated that 14,249 tonnes came from Myanmar in June. This is a...

Worker shortage halves Myanmar tin exports

Imports of tin ores and concentrates from Myanmar into China dropped significantly in May as the major tin mining area in the country struggles with a shortage of workers. Total gross imports of tin ores and concentrates into China totalled some 11,159 tonnes in May,...

YTC begins annual maintenance

YTC has announced that it will cease production at its main smelter as it undergoes maintenance.Yunnan Tin has two smelters in China, one in Yunnan province, and the other in Hunan. Together, the two smelters produced some 76,500 tonnes of refined tin in 2020, with...