Latest Update in the SMM Tin Market

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 24 Jan, 2025

US Tariff Policy Pressures Metal Prices; Spot Market Transactions Nearly Stalled [SMM Tin Morning Brief] Recently, former US President Trump claimed that the US government is considering imposing a 10% tariff on goods imported from China starting February 1. This announcement immediately sparked concerns about a potential escalation in trade tensions, which could significantly impact the price trends of metals such as tin. During yesterday's night session, SHFE tin prices showed a sideways consolidation trend without exhibiting volatility. In the futures market, the price of the most-traded SHFE tin contract remained stable at 246,000 yuan/mt...

[SMM Tin Market Brief: SHFE Tin Prices Remain Weak; JFX Annual Trading Volume Exceeds 1,000 mt] SHFE tin showed a fluctuating downward trend today. The SHFE 2502 contract opened at 249,000 yuan/mt, with a daily decrease of 4,186 lots in open interest, bringing the total open interest to 5,006 lots. The daily trading volume was 19,000 lots. In the spot market: Some smelters suspended quotations and shipments, while most traders had already stopped quoting. During the morning session, traders quoted premiums and discounts for domestic tin ingot brands, with little change compared to recent days. Quotations for small-brand tin ingots against the SHFE 2502 contract were on parity to premiums of 200 yuan/mt...

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 23 Jan, 2025

[SMM Analysis: January Refined Tin Production Continues to Decline; Most Smelters Plan to Halt Production for Maintenance During Chinese New Year]: According to data processed by SMM based on market exchanges, in January 2024, China's refined tin production decreased by 4.62% MoM, but achieved a slight YoY increase of 0.65%. Affected by the tightening supply of tin ore and scrap, the overall domestic tin ingot output showed a downward trend in January. In Yunnan, the persistent low volume of tin ore imports from Myanmar, coupled with a decline in tin ore imports from other countries, has posed severe challenges to raw material supply for local smelters. Under these circumstances, most smelters opted to maintain the status quo or moderately reduce production scales. If Myanmar's tin ore production ban policy remains unchanged, we expect smelter production in Yunnan to continue declining. Additionally, the recent continuous drop in tin concentrate TC has fallen below the cost line for some smelters, forcing a few to halt production for maintenance during the Chinese New Year holiday.

【SMM Tin Midday Review: SHFE Tin Prices Fluctuate Downward, Spot Market Likely to Remain Sluggish Before the Holiday】In today's futures market, SHFE tin prices showed a clear downward fluctuation trend. The most-traded SHFE tin 2502 contract opened at 249,200 yuan, but its price gradually declined during the morning session. As of the latest data, the transaction price had dropped to 247,570 yuan, marking a decrease of -0.94% compared to the opening price. Meanwhile, the market's open interest continued to shrink, currently standing at 5,902 lots. In the spot market, tin ingot prices adjusted in line with the futures market. Specifically, the SMM 1# tin ingot was quoted between 248,000 yuan and 250,000 yuan, with an average price of 249,000 yuan, down by 1,400 yuan per mt compared to the previous day. Further analysis of market dynamics reveals that spot market activity remained sluggish today. As downstream and end-user enterprises gradually entered the holiday period and logistics operations across regions came to a halt, spot trading nearly stagnated. Based on the current market situation, it is expected that the spot market will continue this subdued trend later this week. Additionally, many spot traders have decided to complete all pre-holiday trade tasks within this week, further deepening the market's quiet atmosphere. Overall, as the new year approaches, market trading has gradually entered the closing phase, with the industry awaiting the challenges and opportunities of the upcoming year. In such a market environment, investors and traders need to assess risks more cautiously while also preparing for potential...

US Develops AI Infrastructure; Spot Market Becomes Increasingly Quiet Before the Holiday [SMM Tin Morning Brief] During a briefing at the White House, Trump announced that the US will open an artificial intelligence research center. Japan's SoftBank Group, Oracle, and OpenAI will invest $500 billion to build AI infrastructure in the US, which may subsequently boost tin-related demand this year. In yesterday's night session, SHFE tin prices showed a pullback. In the futures market, the most-traded SHFE tin contract prices exhibited a high-level sideways trend, remaining at 249,000 yuan/mt. In the spot market, due to the strong performance of the futures market, spot tin prices did not experience a significant drop...

[SMM Tin Futures Brief: SHFE Tin Prices Fluctuated and Declined, JFX Daily Trading Volume Surpassed 100 for the First Time After the Holiday] SHFE tin showed a fluctuating downward trend today. The SHFE 2502 contract opened at 251,600 yuan/mt, with a daily decrease of 4,744 lots in open interest, bringing the total open interest to 9,192 lots. The daily trading volume reached 40,400 lots. In the spot market: Some smelters maintained a sentiment to stand firm on quotes, while most traders actively sold. During the morning session, traders' quotations for various domestic tin ingot brands showed little change compared to recent days. Specifically, small-brand tin ingots were quoted at parity to premiums of 200 yuan/mt against the SHFE 2502 contract; delivery brand prices were quoted at premiums of 300-800 yuan/mt against the SHFE 2502 contract; Yunnan tin brand quotations against the SHFE 2502 contract were 1,000-1,100 yuan/mt; imported tin brand spot quotations were at discounts of 800-1,000 yuan/mt against the SHFE 2502 contract. As the Chinese New Year holiday approaches, downstream enterprises mostly adopted a wait-and-see attitude, with only a few making just-in-time procurement. Most traders reported scattered transactions, with a few trading 10-20 mt. Overall, the spot market was relatively quiet today.