Tin futures in the UK climbed to $47,700 per tonne in late February, extending this year’s rally amid mounting signs of tight supply. In Indonesia, authorities seized 500 tonnes of tin and arrested suspects involved in illegal mining, reinforcing Jakarta’s pledge to crack down on unlicensed operations after President Subianto ordered the closure of 1,000 illegal mines in Sumatra. The measures have further tightened the supply outlook from one of the world’s key exporters.
Elsewhere, production at Myanmar’s Man Maw mine has remained sluggish since operations were suspended for a resource audit in 2023, with output further constrained by bottlenecks linked to infrastructure damage caused by the country’s recent major earthquake.
On the demand side, tin’s critical role in datacenters has spurred Asian traders to build futures positions as a speculative play on AI-related growth, especially after heavy speculative flows into silver. However, trading halts on the SHFE prompted a pullback from the late-January record high of $59,000 per tonne.
