Tin prices stabilize

The year 2020 marked the entire industry. In the case of tin, world production fell by 8.8% due to the Covid pandemic: quarantine measures were taken and there was a drop in demand from its main consumer: the electronics industry. And it is this industry that caused the precipitous fall because “approximately half of the tin produced in the world is used as solder in electronics to assemble semiconductor microchips into printed circuit boards and other electronic devices,” according to the recent IndexBox report: ‘World – Tin – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights’.

In 2020, all countries except Russia, Congo and Nigeria experienced a contraction in mining. This is the case in Indonesia, as they point out, where tin ore production fell by 15% year-on-year, in China by 4%, in Myanmar by 21% and in Peru by 9%.

But just as the electronics industry causes tin to fall, it also does the opposite. 2021 has started with a recovery. Tin prices rose to record levels in response to high demand from the electronics industry, but also due, unsurprisingly, to a severe shortage of supply in the market. “The shortfall has been driven by pandemic-related declines in mine production in 2020, the shipping container crisis and a drop in exports due to supply chain disruptions. Prices are forecast to fall only in 2022 thanks to increased mine production and supply and demand returning to balance,” IndexBox notes.

In the first half of 2021, demand for tin used in electronic products soared to record levels that outstripped supply. In the U.S., Asia and the European Union, a construction boom also drove growth in demand for the metal used to join pipes. “The use of tin-plated cans in the stabilization of the food industry, as well as in metal containers for petroleum products and lubricants, contributed to the increase in demand.”