Tin prices rise on Myanmar supply worry
Reuters | May 25, 2023

Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar (Stock Image)

Tin prices rose on Thursday on renewed concerns about plans by a major tin producing region in Myanmar to suspend mining later this year.


A detailed plan to suspend all mining activities in a region controlled by Myanmar’s ethnic Wa militia force from Aug. 1 was released earlier this month, the International Tin Association (ITA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

“It sends a strong message to the mining sector about the (Wa) government’s unwavering commitment to promote sustainable mining practices, protect the environment, and safeguard the welfare of mine workers,” the ITA said.

The Wa militia, which announced the planned mining suspension last month, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Three-month tin on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.7% to $24,140 a tonne at 0839 GMT, while the most-traded June tin contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 2.2% to 199,050 yuan ($28,797.33) a tonne.

The suspension announcement last month sent tin prices sky-rocketing, with China’s Yunnan Tin, the world’s top refined tin producer, saying the mining halt could lead to a further tightening of global tin supply.

“We are revising up our tin price forecasts for 2023 from $20,000 a tonne to $25,000 a tonne as a number of regulatory changes point to a looming supply crunch in the global tin market,” said analysts at BMI in a note.

While Chinese demand remains tepid, the seaborne tin market will see a tighter market in the coming months which will support prices, BMI said.

LME aluminum rose 1.1% to $2,230 a tonne, zinc declined 2% to $2,268 a tonne, lead eased 0.4% to $2,040 a tonne, copper rose 0.6% to $7,946 a tonne and nickel increased 1.6% to $21,070 a tonne.

SHFE aluminum shed 0.4% to 17,650 yuan a tonne, zinc declined 2.1% to 19,050 yuan a tonne, lead eased 0.1% to 15,270 yuan a tonne, copper dropped 0.8% to 63,460 yuan a tonne, while nickel rose 3.1% to 169,080 yuan a tonne.

($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(By Mai Nguyen; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mark Potter)