Tin Pulls Back from Record High

2026-01-27 09:47 By Andre Joaquim 1 min. read

Tin futures in the UK fell to $55,00 per tonne from the record high of $56,800 on January 26th after the SHFE halted trading for a group of clients for not disclosing total positions, consolidating its effort to curb the metal's speculative rally.

The metal had surged over 40% this year alone due to tin's soldering usage in electronic goods and datacenters, driving investors to go long their contracts in proxy to speculative bets in AI technologies.

Trading volumes in Shanghai exceeded one million tonnes in a single session in the first week of the year, more than twice the world physical usage annually, prompting authorities to warn against "blindly following the trend" and prohibit a section of high-frequency trading firms from entering the market.

Physical supply remained uncertain worldwide as Indonesian President Subianto ordered the closure of 1,000 illegal tin mines in Sumatra, lowering the output from the world's second largest supplier.



News Stream
Tin Holds Near 2-Month High
Tin futures in the UK were above $54,800 per tonne, holding most of the recent rally that topped at the two-month high of $56,780 amid the outlook of strong demand. Tin demand remained underpinned to the strong outlook on AI infrastructure due to the metal's utility in data centers. Soaring order growth for Nvidia, per their latest results, and memory producers Samsung and SK Hynix, supported the outlook for continued development of AI infrastructure. The metal's soldering capabilities, which are useful in precision soldering in AI infrastructure, prompted industry players to signal that tin demand in AI servers should triple by 2030. Meanwhile, supply from major producer Indonesia remained low as Jakarta pulled back on the issuance of export licenses. On top of that, Jakarta further tightened mining permits and seized 500 tonnes of metal from mines without licences.
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Tin Rises to 2-Month High
Tin futures in the UK rose to near $56,000 per tonne in August, the highest since June, benefiting from long positions in AI infrastructure and limited supply. Equities for chip producers and data center developers remained under pressure in the US and Korea, but Chinese investors maintained their bullish calls on the sector after CXMT's stellar IPO. The movements reflect long bets on datacenter development, an increasing source of tin demand due to its soldering utility. Industry players forecasting that tin demand in AI servers is due to triple by 2030. Meanwhile, supply from major producer Indonesia remained low as Jakarta pulled back on the issuance of export licenses. Exports out of the country totaled 3,000 tonnes in June, a 33% decline from the previous year. On top of that, Jakarta further tightened mining permits and seized 500 tonnes of metal from mines without licences.
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Tin Pulls Back from 2-Week High
Tin futures in the UK fell to $52,000 per tonne from the two-week high of $53,350, tracking fresh skepticism on AI infrastructure demand. Equities for chip producers and data center developers came under new pressure even though the main chip players upgraded their guidance, as soaring levels of profits drove markets to pare belief that the rally could go for long and overinvestment in infrastructure became more likely. The earlier wave of deals and investment in compute supported tin due to its soldering utility in data centers and energy storage systems, with industry players forecasting that tin demand in AI servers is due to triple by 2030. Still, major producer Indonesia continued to pull back on the issuance of export licences due to bottlenecks in its licensing system. Refined tin exports from the country plunged over 40% annually to 3,246 tonnes in May. On top of that, Jakarta further tightened mining permits and seized 500 tonnes of metal from mines without licences.
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