Tin futures in the UK surged to $49,500 per tonne in January, breaking a record high for the first time since 2022 as strong demand coincided with an outlook of tight supply. Contracts across major exchanges soared as Chinese investors piled on assets parallel with the capital expenditures in datacenters, benefiting tin due to is soldering that is intensely used in the computing sector. In the meantime, operations in the key Man Maw mine remained slow since being closed for a resource audit in 2023, magnified by bottlenecks linked to the destruction of infrastructure following the country’s aggressive earthquake. The main alternatives were also pressured after Indonesian President Subianto ordered the closure of 1,000 illegal tin mines in Sumatra, lowering the output from the world’s second largest supplier.
