Tin
Market, Supplier, Risk and
Competitive Intelligence

Industry Outlook & Drivers

Global Market Overview of Tin 

The global Tin production is expected to witness a stable/marginal increase of 1-2% between 2020 and 2023, owing to increasing recycling rates and significant Tin reserves.

• Global mine production is expected to fall by 5% Y-O-Y in 2020 owing to suspension of mine operations in key regions-China, Indonesia, Malaysia due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic coupled with lower operating rates due to declining price trend of Tin in global markets
• Production is marginally recover post 2021 , owing to increase in downstream demand from long term growth prospects such as 5G network roll out and smart home devices
• APAC accounts for around 3/4th of the global mine production in 2019 with China(26%), Indonesia(25%) and Myanmar(15%) being the top 3 producers.
• Increasing recycling rates and fall in prices due to decline in demand from end use industries are forcing Tin producers to operate at lower capacity and also restricting further investment to invest in exploration activities.

Industry Drivers and Constraints 

 Drivers 

Increase in demand from new applications

•  Roll out of 5G towers and growth in usage of smart devices across the globe is expected to be long term demand drivers for the Tin consumption.

Growth of Electric vehicles

•  Tin and Tin compounds have found to offer better stability in Li-ion batteries. Thus , rapid electrification of vehicle in the forthcoming years is expected to boost the Tin consumption.

Constraints

Decline in demand from packaging sector

• Tinplate, which is the 3rd largest end use application for tin, have been witnessing decline in the consumption trend owing to competition from cheaper alternatives and lower tin coating weights.

Decline in demand from Soldering

• Soldering, the largest consumer of Tin, is witnessing a decline in trend owing to supply chain issues and weakening of global manufacturing due to US China trade war . In addition, Electronics miniaturization, weak global market sentiments and decline in demand for conventional mobile phones, desktops and laptops has resulted have put downward pressure on Tin market.