Tin Prices Exceed US$ 18,000/t at KLTM and LME by Tight Supply

Tin prices jumped up to US$ 18,200 per tonne at Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) and London Metal Exchange (LME). KLTM price surged by US$ 300 on January 15th from the previous day while LME price upped by US$ 475 on January 14th from a day earlier. Tin market prices have risen by 20% in the late month and recovered the high level before Lehman Brothers’ collapse.

Tin market prices exceeded US$ 16,000 at the end of December and US$ 17,000 at the beginning of this month. The prices are strongly pulled up by speculative purchasing based on supply concerns in Southeast Asian countries.

In Indonesia, the world largest tin exporting country, tin ore collection at sea is currently difficult due to the bad weather. Tin supply is also tightening in Thailand and Malaysia. Ore supply from these countries is expected to maintain tight by late March when the rainy season ends.

Japanese tin traders has minimized new ingot procurement since the yearend because domestic tin demand seasonally decreases in January and tin market prices were expected to turn down. However, some traders seem to have secured ingot speculatively with an expectation the market price would continue rising. Dealers’ ingot inventory is shortening. Tin ingot’s spot premium is also likely to surge.